The European Rabbit in South-Western Australia. I. Study Sites and Population Dynamics.

Abstract

Descriptions are given of 2 study sites in the south-west of Western Australia, on which rabbit numbers were monitored. Breeding seasons began in March or April, with the onset of winter rain, and rabbit numbers peaked in October-December, followed by a fall over the non-breeding period in summer. Winter epizootics of myxomatosis, which were spread by Spilopsyllus cuniculi, caused severe declines in rabbit numbers at both sites. Summer epizootics at one site before the introduction of the flea as a biological control agent, and rabbit mortality during these, was lower than in the winter epizootics.