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Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Authors

Stuart Wheeler

Keywords

Rabbits, Vertebrate pests, Biological control, Biological control agents, Western Australia

Disciplines

Other Animal Sciences | Other Immunology and Infectious Disease

First Page Number

26

Last Page Number

30

ISSN

0021-8618

Abstract

When myxomatosis was introduced into Western Australia in the early 1950s, farmers, pastoralists and government alike thought it was an answer to the rabbit problem.

The disease was devastatingly effective in the short term and initially had a 99 per cent kill rate. With time, the virus declined in strength, and the surviving rabbits have multiplied.

There have been many recent reports about new forms of biological control for rabbits and potential improvements in old ones.

This article summarises each of the prospective methods and improvements, and assesses the potential usefulness of each.

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