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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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1 posted on 04/22/2007 12:05:29 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
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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)
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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)
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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.)
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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
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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)
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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.)
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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.)


8 posted on 04/22/2007 12:23:14 PM PDT by Pete from Shawnee Mission
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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)
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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
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To: Clintonfatigued

I am having trouble considering carniverous mice a scary scenario.


11 posted on 04/22/2007 12:29:44 PM PDT by Vince Ferrer
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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.)
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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.)
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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?)
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To: Clintonfatigued

Got to love Australia. It is never unemployment, scandal, massacres, terrorists. Always some little animal taking over the place.


15 posted on 04/22/2007 12:33:08 PM PDT by A knight without armor
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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.)
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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)
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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
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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...)
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To: Clintonfatigued

20 posted on 04/22/2007 12:51:24 PM PDT by Bratch
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