Rabbits

Domestic rabbits were initially imported to supplement the early settlers cooking pots, and although some escaped or were released, few survived. It was not until 1864 that wild stock was introduced in Southland but within a few years they became a serious, expanding problem. By the 1870's overgrazing by rabbits had begun to cause erosion and stocking rates on many sheep runs were reduced by 50% or more. During their expansion phase rabbits penetrated heavy forest and alpine regions. It was not until the 1950's that numbers were controlled through a variety of methods such as poisoning with 1080, decommercialsaiton making it illegal to farm them, and by intensive control through regional Rabbit Boards. Attempts to introduce myxomatosis, which had had a dramatic effect in Europe, were largely unsuccessful because of the absence of fleas to transmit the disease. Greater success was achieved through the illegal introduction of rabbit calici virus in the 1990's. Fortunately the virus does not appear to have had any effect on native birds, although studies with captive kiwi indicated they may be mildly affected.