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How Rabbits Became Illegal in Australia
Did you know that in Australia, keeping, selling, introducing, or releasing rabbits is illegal and punishable by maximum penalties of $44,000 AUD or six months in prison? This seemingly unreasonable and harsh law has an understandable past behind it. Australia had been waging a war on rabbits for almost 150 years.
How rabbits came to Australia
In 1859, a man named Thomas Austin first introduced European rabbits to Australia. Austin, who was an immigrant from England, had severe homesickness for England which he left at seventeen. Owning large farmland in the state of Victoria, Austin sought to bring wild animals from England so he could recreate scenes from his childhood. Austin requested his relatives in England to send hunting animals like peacocks, partridges, and rabbits. Out of these animals, rabbits in particular became an enormous problem for Australia.
Without any natural predators, rabbits flourished in Victoria. Starting out with just twenty-four, the number of rabbits in Victoria grew to a couple thousand in 1861. By the time Austin…
