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Rabbits wrecking Australian isle
Yahoo News ^
| April 22, 2007
Posted on 04/22/2007 12:05:27 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
An explosion in the rabbit population has "trashed" the World Heritage listed Macquarie Island, which is home to endangered penguins and albatrosses, the World Wide Fund for Nature said.
The conservation group is calling on the government to implement a 25 million dollar (21 million US) strategy to eradicate rabbits, rats and mice on the sub-Antarctic territory.
WWF spokesman Andreas Glanznig said it was possible that mice, which have been shown to become carnivorous on an island in the Atlantic, could evolve enough to threaten endangered bird species on the remote scrap of land.
"It's a scary scenario but it's not outside the realm of possibility," he said. But he added that rabbits posed the more immediate threat.
"The rabbits are changing the whole ecosystem. The ecosystem is literally falling apart," Glanznig told AFP. "The whole island has been trashed."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: australia; rabbits; tasmania
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To: Aussie Dasher; ExTexasRedhead; fieldmarshaldj
If I were a local, I would open a new restaurant offering rabbit as a delicacy. That would fix those rascally rabbits!
2
posted on
04/22/2007 12:06:28 PM PDT
by
Clintonfatigued
(If the GOP were to stop worshiping Free Trade as if it were a religion, they'd win every election)
To: Clintonfatigued
If they can succeed in eradicating the rabbits they should certainly do so. They need to get the rats and mice too. An eradication program was successful on New Zealand's Campbell Island, so there's no reason why it can't be similarly successful on Macquerie Island.
3
posted on
04/22/2007 12:10:32 PM PDT
by
AntiGuv
("..I do things for political expediency.." - Sen. John McCain on FOX News)
To: Clintonfatigued
How about making rabbit jerky for export? I’ll do the shooting, you’ll do the smoking and drying.
4
posted on
04/22/2007 12:12:32 PM PDT
by
353FMG
(I never met a liberal I didn't dislike.)
To: Clintonfatigued
So why don’t they load up some rabbit pellets with birth control medication instead of whining? They’ve been watching the increase for sometime. As for the mice and rats, put out rat poison.
5
posted on
04/22/2007 12:15:42 PM PDT
by
tillacum
To: Clintonfatigued
Sounds like this is one case where Jimmy Carter might actually be of some use.
6
posted on
04/22/2007 12:18:09 PM PDT
by
dfwgator
(The University of Florida - Still Championship U)
To: Clintonfatigued
No worries, mate! When the polar ice caps melts, the polar bears will swim over and eat the bunnies!! Three cheers for global warming!
7
posted on
04/22/2007 12:19:12 PM PDT
by
Tall_Texan
(NBC News - the preferred network of assassins and terrorists.)
To: Clintonfatigued
Test first to see if penguins are affected, and if not, for the mice, bubonic plague, tulemaria for the rabbits.
(I would suggest weasels, martins, and fox, but they would turn on the penguins once they ran out of mice and rabbits.)
To: Clintonfatigued
We'll start with this one...
9
posted on
04/22/2007 12:29:21 PM PDT
by
JRios1968
(This tagline brought to you by courtesy of Happygrl)
To: AntiGuv
Those are the strangest looking rabbits I’ve ever seen.
10
posted on
04/22/2007 12:29:42 PM PDT
by
2111USMC
To: Clintonfatigued
I am having trouble considering carniverous mice a scary scenario.
To: Clintonfatigued
12
posted on
04/22/2007 12:31:13 PM PDT
by
AliVeritas
(Pray for Tony Snow, Liz Edwards, cancer patients, their families and support.)
To: Clintonfatigued
13
posted on
04/22/2007 12:31:52 PM PDT
by
AliVeritas
(Pray for Tony Snow, Liz Edwards, cancer patients, their families and support.)
To: Clintonfatigued
If this island’s rockin’, don’t bother knocking!!!
14
posted on
04/22/2007 12:32:11 PM PDT
by
socal_parrot
(Snowing in Socal in April. Does Algore know about this?)
To: Clintonfatigued
Got to love Australia. It is never unemployment, scandal, massacres, terrorists. Always some little animal taking over the place.
To: Vince Ferrer
You don’t live in the Bronx... do you?
16
posted on
04/22/2007 12:33:12 PM PDT
by
AliVeritas
(Pray for Tony Snow, Liz Edwards, cancer patients, their families and support.)
To: AliVeritas
That’s a lot of Hausenpfeffer.
17
posted on
04/22/2007 12:33:49 PM PDT
by
dfwgator
(The University of Florida - Still Championship U)
To: Clintonfatigued
Glanznig called on Canberra to take control of the island from the Tasmanian government to put an end to the plague. Yeah, that's the ticket! Replace small government with BIG GOVERNMENT!
18
posted on
04/22/2007 12:39:08 PM PDT
by
umbagi
To: Clintonfatigued
This cannot be a true story.
Only humans can damage the environment.
Animals are natural and organic.
19
posted on
04/22/2007 12:48:06 PM PDT
by
EEDUDE
(The more I know, the less I understand...)
To: Clintonfatigued
20
posted on
04/22/2007 12:51:24 PM PDT
by
Bratch
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