Reasons for Controlling Rabbits
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Rabbits are selective grazers and will eat the more nutritious and palatable plants. This feed is clearly better off in the mouths of your livestock, and 7-10 rabbits eat the equivalence of 1 sheep's worth of feed.
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They also graze closer to the ground than sheep and cattle even digging below the plant to get to the roots and seeds, this causes the ground to become bare, the topsoil blows away and all of the good nutrients are lost leading to erosion.
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People tend to underestimate how much damage rabbits can cause. A small number of rabbits can cause a lot of damage in the urban areas as well by causing concrete slabs to drop and crack due to undermining, as well as by chewing wires and pipes under houses.
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Rabbits will ringbark trees and shrubs.
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Rabbit populations will attract feral predators including foxes and cats.
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Rabbits breed from 4 months of age and in favourable conditions rabbits can produce 5 or more litters in a year. That's between 30- 40 rabbits per breeding pair.
- Rabbits will compete with Native wildlife for food and habitat.