Rabbit killers

Three diseases have had a devastating effect on rabbit populations

MYXOMATOSIS

Deliberately introduced to Australia in 1950 to reduce feral rabbit populations, the viral disease proved highly effective. British farmers welcomed its appearance in 1953 but Winston Churchill was aghast. Symptoms are swollen or closed eyes, with animals huddled listlessly above ground.

RABBIT HAEMORRHAGIC DISEASE (RHD1)

This is another viral control first trialled in Australia, from where it again somehow ‘escaped’. Often fatal, it is a disease that can be spread via shoes or machinery as well as rabbit-to-rabbit contact. It causes haemorrhaging and usually shows as blood coming from a rabbit’s nose.

RABBIT HAEMORRHAGIC DISEASE (RHD2)

Despite its name, this disease appears not to have evolved from RHD1. Little is known about its transmission and there are no visible symptoms. Wild rabbits become lethargic and disappear underground to die; post-mortems reveal their lungs are full of blood and their livers are destroyed.