Rabbits were first introduced to mainland Australia when five domestic animals were brought to Sydney on the First Fleet in 1788. At least 90 subsequent importations would be made before 1859 but none of these populations became invasive. But within 50 years, at a rate of 100 km per year, rabbits would spread across the entire continent, making this the fastest colonisation rate for an introduced mammal ever recorded. [1]

Figure 1. Australian Rabbit Plague Puzzle Solved with DNA Profiling

Figure 1 shows to establish where Australia’s invasive rabbits originated from, the researchers studied historical records alongside new genetic data collected from 187 ‘European rabbits’ – mostly wild-caught across Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Britain and France between 1865 and 2018. They wanted to determine whether the invasion arose from a single or multiple introductions; how they spread across the country; and whether there was a genetic explanation for their success compared to that of other imported rabbit populations. [2]

The researchers recovered that arsenic the rabbits moved further distant from Barwon Park, familial diverseness declined and uncommon familial variants which hap successful rapidly increasing populations became much frequent.

Despite the operation of rabbit-proof fences, the deliberate instauration of the myxoma microorganism and different measures, rabbits stay 1 of the large invasive taxon successful Australia threatening autochthonal flora and fauna and costing the cultivation assemblage an estimated $200 cardinal per year. [3]

In the 20thcentury Joan Palmer recalled that her grandfather, William Austin, found it difficult to find animals for Thomas “as wild rabbits were by no means common in Boltonsborough. With great difficulty he managed to get six; these were half-grown individuals taken from nests and domesticated. To replenish, I bought seven gray rabbits, which the villagers kept in huts either as pets or for food.”

“Environmental change may have made Australia vulnerable to invasion, but it was the genetic makeup of a small batch of wild rabbits that caused one of the most iconic biological invasions of all time.” [4]

References:

1. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/08/220822174922.htm
2. https://scitechdaily.com/australian-rabbit-plague-puzzle-solved-with-dna-profiling/
3. https://mondaydaily.com/dna-profiling-solves-australian-rabbit-plague-puzzle-44270.html
4. https://trainersadda.com/dna-profiling-solves-puzzle-of-australian-rabbit-plague-sciencedaily/58202/

Cite this article:

Thanusri swetha J (2022), Australian Rabbit Plague Puzzle Solved with DNA Profiling, AnaTechMaz, pp.103