Famous Pitch Riddled With Holes as Rabbit Population Explodes Out of Control
The Albany Golf Course, one of Western Australia's oldest sports fields, has been invaded by a rampant proliferation of wild rabbits. The historic greens, which were listed among the top 100 golf courses in the country last year, have suffered significant damage due to burrows dug by the rabbits, whose numbers have tripled in the past two years.
General Manager Dan Northcott pointed out that the destruction on the field is increasing day by day, stating that the staff spends hours repairing the ground.
It's being pointed out that biological control methods such as myxomatosis and calicivirus, which have been used for decades to keep the rabbit population in check in Australia, are no longer effective due to the animals developing immunity.
In the face of insufficient virus controls implemented by the authorities across the city, field management and local residents are forced to resort to alternative methods, including nocturnal hunting. Gun dealers and hunters in the area report a dramatic increase in the number of rabbits shot in the fields.
The invasion threatens not only golf courses but also agricultural lands.
Farmer Lewis Miller, who has identified over 40 rabbit burrows on his 3,000-hectare property in the Cranbrook region, stated that hundreds of rabbits have gnawed the pastures down to their roots. The destruction of vegetation by the rabbits directly impedes livestock farming and sheep breeding in the region.
The Invasive Species Council along with experts are raising the alarm that the country is heading towards an animal invasion of "plague proportions", unseen since the 1990s.
Ecologists, drawing attention to the rapid reproductive capacities of rabbits and their ability to develop resistance to viruses, underscore the need to introduce new biological tools every 10 to 15 years.
The Australian Federal Government has allocated a budget of 2.6 million dollars for a new rabbit biological control study as part of their crisis management. However, experts indicate that it could take up to a decade to develop and implement a new virus effective against the resistant population.
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