|
 In
1788, the colony of New South Wales was founded. Rabbits were amongst
the first European arrivals to Australia, travelling by ship from England
with the First Fleet.
Rabbits were mainly held in captivity to provide food for the settlers
in NSW, but they were also present on islands off the coast of Western
Australia as early as 1827. Whaling ships worked off the southern and
western coasts of Australia and the men would leave rabbits on small islands
as a food supply for later visits or in case of shipwreck. It is possible
that rabbits may have been introduced onto the mainland from these islands
between 1839 and 1900.
Meanwhile, on the eastern side of the continent, twenty four rabbits were
imported from England by Mr Thomas Austin in 1859. These rabbits were
not for food, but sport. Austin had arrived in the colony of Victoria
and wished to continue his practise of hunting. He released the rabbits
on his property near Geelong. For the next few years, Austin and other
landowners enjoyed their pastime of rabbit-hunting. They released rabbits
on other properties in Victoria and NSW and even asked for legislation
to protect rabbits!
 Just
how plentiful rabbits would become, no one could have anticipated. The
saying 'breed like rabbits' must be the understatement of European settlement
in Australia. In 37 short years, from 1859 to 1896 these pesky lagomorphs
had bred and fled up to Queensland, over to South Australia and across
the continent to the fledgling colony of Western Australia. (The lagomorph
family includes rabbits and hares.)
Rabbits received much assistance in their spread across the country. In
addition to landowners releasing them for sport, trappers and shooters
would also release rabbits so they would be hired to get rid of them.
During the gold rush of the mid 1800s, the movement of people around the
goldfields and major centres also propelled the rabbits westward - they
would often receive a free ride in a miner's billycan!
|
