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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 34(5)

Aspects of the biology of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) in coastal eastern Australia

B. J. Richardson A E , S. Phillips A , R. A. Hayes A C , S. Sindhe A and B. D. Cooke B D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Centre for Biostructural and Biomolecular Research, University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury Campus, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC, NSW 1797, Australia.

B CSIRO Sustainable Ecology, GPO Box 284, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

C Present address: Centre for Molecular Biodiversity, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia.

D Present address: Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, University of Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

E Corresponding author. Present address: CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. Email: barry.richardson@csiro.au

Wildlife Research 34(5) 398-407 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR06117
Submitted: 25 August 2006  Accepted: 17 July 2007   Published: 6 September 2007

Abstract

A population of wild rabbits in a high-rainfall area near Sydney, New South Wales, was studied for 8 years to investigate the population biology of the rabbit in a high-rainfall area, to examine factors affecting the length of the breeding season, and to describe the biology of RHDV and a RHDV-like virus in the population. The breeding season was short, starting in June and ending in October, though some conceptions occurred in every month of the year. Supplementary feeding with grain, germinated wheat or high-protein rabbit pellets did not extend the breeding season, so predictions that the length of the breeding season and occurrence of anaemia were influenced by a lack of protein in the diet were not upheld. Myxomatosis appeared in late summer each year as in inland southern Australia. Studies of the immunostatus of the population showed that, even in the years before RHDV was released in Australia, 80–100% of adult animals were seropositive when tested with ELISA specifically designed to detect antibodies to RHDV, arguably owing to the presence of a RHDV-like virus. The proportion of seropositive animals fell when annual rainfall was below 600 mm and rose when it was above 700 mm. Presumably, in areas where rainfall is usually low the proportion of the population infected with the putative RHDV-like virus would slowly drop to a low level, providing a possible basis for the different epidemiological patterns found for RHDV in different parts of Australia.


Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the field assistance of C. Herlihy, N. Hristov, M. Hunt, M. Jones and K. Stephenson during this long field program. Dr A.-M. Vachot also assisted in the field program as part of her studies on an ARC International Fellowship and gratefully acknowledges this support. N. Simms carried out ELISAs to detect antibodies to the putative RHDV-like virus. The advice and assistance of A. Glover and the staff of the Moss Vale Rural Lands Board is greatly appreciated. The work was done under permit number A2469 of NSW NPWS, with the approval of the Animal Care and Ethics Committee of UWS and with financial support from the Anti-rabbit Research Foundation, CRC for the Biocontrol of Vertebrate Pests, and a small ARC Grant.


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