Summer science: Rabbits and other pests

We continue our summer science series with an episode from RNZ's The Aotearoa History Show. In the first episode of season two, the show burrows into the story of rabbits and other pests introduced to New Zealand.

We continue our summer science series with an episode from RNZ's The Aotearoa History Show. In the first episode of season two, the show burrows into the story of rabbits and other pests introduced to New Zealand.

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We don't really know who first introduced rabbits to Aotearoa. But what started out with plenty of (h)optimism has led to generations of damage to our environment and economy.

In this episode, we learn why those initial introductions led to a rabbit boom, and how rabbits impacted both the land and farmers.

Since the population explosion, we've been looking for ways to control rabbits. In the 19th century, some took up the profession of "rabbiting" - trapping and poisoning the pests for a living. Eventually, some looked to introduce rabbit predators such as ferrets, stoats and weasels - a decision that would prove disastrous for Aotearoa's wildlife. In more recent times, we've turned to toxins (like 1080) and viruses (like calicivirus) to attempt to control our rabbit problem. But the rabbits are still here, and still threatening New Zealand's environment and economy.

This episode also explores the introductions of other animal species by both Māori and Europeans, and explains the ideology of many early colonists that Aotearoa needed to be "improved" through the introduction of exotic animals.

Learn more:

In addition to the podcast format, this episode is also available as a video

Episode one of the Fight for the Wild series looks at the devastating effect introduced mammals have had on New Zealand's unique wildlife

In 2016, Alison Ballance learned how rabbits and redbacks are threatening a rare native beetle

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details