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CleverNomDePlume t1_iwk1ell wrote

Reply to comment by IlluminatedPickle in Van Wert Co. Sheriff: 25 to 40 thousand minks with a diet consisting of 'fresh kills' released from farm by FancyFrostFire

The story I heard (USA public education), about rabbits in Australia, was that they aren't native, and are a big problem with native ecosystems. I heard that some British governor imported them, so that he and his cronies could have their jolly, gentilemanly hunts.

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FrederickBishop t1_iwk4h9u wrote

Yep, same with foxes

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CleverNomDePlume t1_iwk5c7n wrote

I'm picturing this Gov'ner dude showing up and being like, "whatever shall I hunt to pass the time?" And then looks at the native wildlife, and is just like "nope" and then sends to daddy's estate to have foxes and bunnies shipped in.

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Swarbie8D t1_iwki3ij wrote

I mean, essentially yeah. I guess kangaroos and emus are too intimidating compared to the usual small game they hunted. Our troubles on the mainland (Tasmania had a rabbit problem first) stems from just 24 rabbits that were released. For a while they were kept under control by native predators but natural selection meant that they got hardier, until we had a population explosion. In the 1950s we deliberately spread a rabbit-killing virus, which worked for a bit, but they’ve adapted partial immunity to that now.

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Screamingholt t1_iwkm7t6 wrote

Heh, now they get given rabbit aids/Ebola. And as horrible as that may sound, is still only making a dent in their population

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IlluminatedPickle t1_iwl343j wrote

Don't forget that the Americans had a Shakespeare based animal society that introduced a lot of stupid things like starlings to North America that now devastate regions.

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