MEMBER for MacKillop Nick McBride Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister Tim Whetstone have confirmed that five sites across the MacKillop electorate – Millicent, Avenue Range, Lochaber, Wild Dog Valley and Willalooka – have received the calicivirus RHDV1 K5 for rabbits.
The virus was mixed into oats and then distributed to farmers who had registered for the program and each kilogram of baited oats has the potential to carry 6000 lethal doses of the virus.
“Farmers in the South East are reporting high numbers of rabbit populations due to good consecutive breeding seasons,” Mr McBride said.
“The calicivirus RHDV1 K5 is an important biological tool in the control of feral rabbit populations.
“While the virus is only harmful to rabbits, the release is a timely reminder to those people in the community who have pet rabbits to ensure they are vaccinated against this virus.”
Feral rabbits are estimated to cause $30m in damage annually to South Australian agricultural production.
“Rabbits are a major burden for farmers by consuming crops and pastures and they threaten the survival of more than 300 plant and animal species,” said Mr Whetstone.
“The aim of this latest virus release, funded as part of the Morrison Coalition Government’s Agricultural Competiveness White Paper, will conduct landscape-scale reductions of rabbit populations.
“This initiative follows an initial nation-wide release of the virus in March 2017 which led to a sizeable reduction in wild rabbit numbers.
“The state rabbit control co-ordinator, Mr Josh Rosser, will work with landholders to ensure the effectiveness of this virus release and will encourage communities to undertake complementary pest rabbit eradication activities such as warren ripping.
“Pet rabbits should also be kept enclosed and safely away from contact with wild rabbits and biting insects following the virus release.”
