RabbitScan can help you combat rabbits in your area 

FeralScan is a free app that lets people record rabbit activity, sightings and control measures through one central database. RabbitScan is available through FeralScan.  

Darling Downs-Moreton Rabbit board encourages everyone to use RabbitScan to help combat the spread of Australia’s most devastating pest.  

What are the benefits of using RabbitScan?

RabbitScan is a powerful tool that lets you consolidate your rabbit combating efforts with your local community. The benefits of RabbitScan include: 

1. Developing a map of rabbit activity to help guide control efforts on your property or in your local area.  
2. Assisting you in working together with your neighbours to undertake coordinated control efforts. 
3. Helping you notify your local community or landholder group about rabbit activity and disease presence. 
4. Send alerts to nominated people, such as neighbours or biosecurity agencies. 

What does RabbitScan do? 

RabbitScan lets anyone record and view information about local rabbit populations.  

RabbitScan allows you to: 

• Document the rabbit problem and identify the scale of the rabbit problem. The app lets you map any active rabbit warrens, and record where rabbits are causing damage. 
• Develop a rabbit map for planning control, identifying what resources you need to undertake effective rabbit control.  
• Seek assistance with control programs by working with your local community to develop a detailed map of rabbit populations, which can then be used to seek support or further funding to assist in control measures.  
• Document control allowing you to check back later to evaluate whether control outcomes were achieved, and whether follow-up control is required.  
• Help protect your neighbours and community by recording and using information on rabbit problems in your location.  
• Work together with your neighbours to get the best results controlling rabbits in your area.  

Who should use RabbitScan? 

RabbitScan can be used by anyone interested in or invested in controlling the spread of rabbits. RabbitScan is particularly useful for: 

• Farmers 
• Landowners 
• Community groups 
• Landcare groups 
• Pest controllers 
• Local councils  
• Biosecurity groups 
• Researchers. 

Where can I get RabbitScan? 

You can create an account using your computer on the RabbitScan webpage.  

Alternatively, you can download the app to your mobile device on the App Store and Google Play.  

You might think rabbits are something that only farmers need to worry about, so it could come as a surprise to know just how close to the city they are!

The Darling Downs-Moreton Rabbit Board (DDMRB) is urging residents between Toowoomba and Highfields to report rabbit sightings.

DDMRB Chair, Cr Janice Holstein (Lockyer Valley Regional Council) said, “Rabbits cause significant damage to agriculture, the natural environment and to property by undermining infrastructure and destroying gardens”.

“The DDMRB maintains the 555km rabbit fence that runs from Goombi (north west of Chinchilla) to Mt Gipps (near Rathdowney), as well as working with landholders and Councils to prevent rabbits from becoming established in our 28,000km2 operational area, which is home to much of Queensland’s most productive agricultural land and unique ecosystems”.

DDMRB Director and Toowoomba Regional Councillor Tim McMahon recently inspected rabbit control works undertaken adjacent to the new bike path to Highfields.

“A number of rabbit warrens were recently identified and removed just near the Toowoomba Christian College, which is quite close to the city” Cr McMahon said.

“I often hear people say that rabbits are everywhere around Toowoomba, but a lot of the time they will actually see hares and mistake them for rabbits. It’s important to know the difference between the two” he said.

Like rabbits, hares are introduced animals but do not pose the same impacts as rabbits. They do not burrow, nor do they have the breeding capacity of rabbits. Hares are not declared pest animals in Queensland, whereas rabbits are declared and landowners must take steps to control them on their land.

Cr Holstein said, “We urge people to report rabbit sightings in the DDMRB area to us, either by phone, social media or via our web site. Our compliance staff are on hand to visit properties and provide assistance with advice on the most effective control methods to suit the situation”.

Correct destruction of rabbit warrens and other harbour is essential for effective rabbit control and protecting your land from unnecessary damage.

The video below, funded by Australian Wool Innovation Limited and supported by Invasive Animals CRC, the Department of Industry and Science and the NSW Department of Primary Industries, explains exactly this.

This video takes you through the process of rabbit warren ripping, from initial steps of excavation to determine depth of the warren system, to using the right excavation equipment, to post-excavation and deterring future rabbit populations.

Key points

• Initial steps include digging a trench to determine the depth of the warren, with some warren systems going as far as 2.5m under the ground.  
• You can seek advice from DDMRB before ripping, to get guidance on the type of equipment required and best steps forward.  
• Cross ripping of the warren ensures destruction of the system. Post this, smoothing over and compacting the ground in the area helps grass regenerate and deters future rabbit populations.  
• Cooperation with your neighbours is essential in improving rabbit management outcomes.  
• It is important you contact Dial Before You Dig to ensure you don’t damage service infrastructure.  

For more information on anything you saw in the video, or to begin your own ripping or harbour removal program, get in contact with DDMRB today.  

The long-awaited 2021 State of the Environment (SOE) Report, released by Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek this week confirmed that rabbits are Australia’s most damaging pest.
For those farmers that have had to bear the cost of lost pasture and crops and faced hefty bills for control, this news might not be that surprising. What might surprise some people however is the devastating impacts rabbits pose to our rare and threatened native flora and fauna. The SOE Report shows that rabbits impact upon 322 threatened species, as listed under the Federal environment legislation, the EPBC Act. A number far greater than pests commonly accepted as doing widespread environmental damage such as feral cats and foxes and weeds including lantana and blackberry.
The SOE Report also shows that positive action has been taken on a national scale to reduce the impacts of some of Australia’s worst invasive pest animals, including developing national action plans and employing national coordinators for species including wild dogs, feral pigs and more recently, feral deer. What is lacking and clearly needed is a national action plan for rabbits, with its implementation driven by a dedicated national coordinator.

DDMRB Chair, Cr Janice Holstein said, “We’re immensely proud of the successes of the DDMRB in actively supressing the number and impact of rabbits in our area and Queensland more broadly for over 130 years. We are fortunate here in many ways as we had the foresight of past governments and Rabbit Boards to build the rabbit fence, as well as governments and Boards since that have recognised and supported the need for the continued maintenance of the fence and in undertaking strategic compliance”.

It is a constant battle for the DDMRB, with ever increasing pressures to keep on top of rabbits in its operational area, as it is for agencies and land managers in the rest of Australia. Without the support of continued research into new biological controls and coordination of strategic, best practice control, the risk of rabbits reaching plague proportions across the country greatly increases.
“We applaud the Federal Government for releasing the SOE Report and we now seek their support in committing to a national rabbit action plan and a national coordinator position”. Cr Holstein said.

You have probably seen their signs on the highways warning against keeping pet rabbits and you have probably driven over the ‘fence’ at Cottonvale on the New England Highway. You might have also wondered where the rabbit fence starts and finishes and what role it really plays these days.
Well, wonder no more…

The Darling Downs-Moreton Rabbit Board (DDMRB) has been in operation for 130 years, dating back to the 1890s when the Maranoa, Warrego, Mitchell, Gregory North, Leichardt, Darling Downs, Carnarvon, Burke and (in 1905) Moreton Rabbit Boards were proclaimed in response to the march north of rabbits from the southern States. Following a Royal Commission in 1930, all Boards but Leichhardt, Darling Downs, and Moreton were abolished. The Darling Downs-Moreton Rabbit Board was constituted under the Rabbit Act 1964.

Fast forward to 2022 and the DDMRB has 14 full time staff, most of which patrol and maintain the entire length of the 555km fence. In days not that long gone by, patrolmen were stationed along the fence, and it was from there and a series of camping huts and horse paddocks they patrolled their runs on horseback. The fence was erected along watersheds and traverses some extremely rugged terrain that continues to be challenging to negotiate, even with modern 4WD and all-terrain vehicles. The whole fence is foot netted to prevent rabbits and other animals from burrowing under and patrol staff routinely patch holes, cut trees off the fence, repair flood gates and replace foot netting. Over a third of the fence has been raised to also provide a strategic barrier to wild dogs and the whole fence is subject to a rolling renewal and replacement program as well as the ravages of fires and floods. It is a never ending job, but is it still necessary?

DDMRB Chair Cr Janice Holstein (Lockyer Valley Regional Council) said, “Science tells us that the fence is as important today at preventing the spread of rabbits as it was 130 years ago. Research has shown how genetically different the rabbit populations to the south of the fence are compared to the much less significant populations to the north of our operational area. This tells us that the rabbits beyond our area aren’t coming through the fence to get there”.

DDMRB also has compliance staff that work with landholders and Councils across the Board’s operational area to locate and ensure removal of rabbit populations inside the Board area.

“Rabbits cause significant damage to agriculture and the natural environment. While they’re still a serious problem in many areas of Australia, we shouldn’t forget just how bad the impact of rabbits were and how bad they can once again become if we are complacent.” Cr Holstein said.

“The DDMRB maintains the 555km rabbit fence that runs from Goombi (north west of Chinchilla), where it joins the wild dog barrier fence, to Mt Gipps (near Rathdowney), as well as working with landholders and Councils to prevent rabbits from becoming established in our 28,000km2 operational area, which is home to much of Queensland’s most productive agricultural land and unique ecosystems”.

DDMRB Director and Southern Downs Regional Councillor, Jo McNally hears a number of common questions about the Board and the rabbit fence.

“One of the most common things I hear is that there are rabbits on both sides of the fence, so what’s the point of it?”

“It’s true; there are rabbits on both sides. But there immeasurably fewer inside the Board operational area than there are outside, particularly to the south in the Granite Belt and in New South Wales” she said.

“That’s the primary role of the DDMRB; to prevent rabbits from establishing inside the operational area, or the ‘clean side’ of the fence”.

Cr McNally said she often fields questions about the fence, or lack thereof, on the New England Highway at Cottonvale.

“There was previously a grid in place that formed part of the rabbit fence and acted to reduce the likelihood of rabbits crossing. Main Roads, as they are doing on highways right across Queensland, removed the grid for safety and cost reasons. People scoff at the obvious breach in the fence there, but there are actually some other measures in place such as wing fencing that deter rabbits from crossing. Obviously we’d have preferred if the grid stayed in place, but I imagine our predecessors probably also lamented progress when the rabbit fence gates were removed from the road!” she said.

Another common issue is hares mistakenly being identified as rabbits. DDMRB compliance staff are often called to investigate rabbit sightings inside the Board area only to find that hares have been spotted.

Like rabbits, hares are introduced animals but do not pose the same impacts as rabbits. They do not burrow, nor do they have the breeding capacity of rabbits. Hares are not declared pest animals in Queensland, whereas rabbits are declared and landowners must take steps to control them on their land.

Cr Holstein said, “We urge people to report rabbit sightings in the DDMRB area to us, either by phone, social media or via our web site. Our compliance staff are on hand to visit properties and provide assistance with advice on the most effective control methods to suit the situation”.