Wild Rabbits

Special notice re cessation of Pindone-treated carrot sales from our office

Please note, we have ceased selling Pindone-treated carrots from our office, but you can still buy these at our Rabbit bait Distribution Days, which will commence in December this year. These events will be advertised on our Landscapes Hills and Fleurieu Facebook page, this webpage and in Stewardship News, which you can subscribe to here.

If you wish to control rabbits now, you can purchase Pindone Oats at rural retailers. Any rabbit bait will be most effective when used in combination with other strategies - please see below, ‘Managing wild rabbits on your property’ for more details on this. Don’t forget when using Pindone oats to always follow the instructions on the label and don’t bait if wildlife will have access to the baiting oats.

We are also holding free Rabbit Management Information sessions this November and December across the region to help you make the most of your rabbit control efforts. Please register here

Sales of Pindone-treated carrots from our office have been replaced with specific Distribution Days in order to ensure rabbits are baited across multiple properties at the same time. This enables more effective rabbit control and better environmental outcomes.

European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are a serious invasive pest across the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu.

The impact of wild rabbits

Rabbits pose a significant threat to Australia's environment and economy. Their impact includes:

• Environmental damage: Rabbits consume native plants, outcompete native animals, and cause soil erosion through their burrowing.
• Economic impact: They inflict millions of dollars in damage to crops, pastures, and native vegetation, and cause erosion issues that can even harm dam walls.
• Control Challenges: Managing rabbits is difficult and requires ongoing effort from landholders.

Their ability to adapt to various environments and food sources, coupled with their burrowing behaviour, worsens the damage they cause and makes them very resilient animals.

Managing wild rabbits on your property

Maintaining pressure on rabbits each year improves farm productivity, reduces food resources for foxes and feral cats and helps to protect remnant native vegetation and wildlife habitat. It is the legal responsibility of the land owner to control rabbits on their property under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019.

Using a range of methods and coordinating with your neighbours to control rabbits over the summer season can produce great results and restricts rapid recovery of the rabbit population in Autumn.

• Exclude rabbits from revegetation areas and gardens using suitable guards and fencing
• Destroy or collapse warrens and remove shelter, clean up piles of green waste, pruning's and branches, and deal with those piles of pallets.
• Bait with pindone-treated carrots in summer. These can only be sourced though us at our distribution days. Distribution days will be held between December and April.
  
• Bait with pindone-treated oats – these can be purchased from some hardware stores and ag stores
• Bait with RHDV K5 treated carrots sourced from one of our distribution days in February.
• Talk to your neighbours and get them involved to achieve wider rabbit control in your area.

Get in touch with your local Stewardship Officer if you need further local wild rabbit pest animal management advice.