How 24 English rabbits sparked Australia’s most devastating biological invasion

DNA analysis has confirmed Australia’s rabbit invasion began with just 24 rabbits brought over from England.

Researchers have used historical and genetic data to trace 187 wild rabbits caught across the country back to Thomas Austin, who shipped the first wild rabbits in to hunt in Geelong 163 years ago.

It comes after recent studies disputed the single-origin hypothesis.

Study co-author, Professor Mike Letnic from the University of New South Wales, says it only took a couple of decades for Austin’s rabbits to reach plague proportions.

“In 1859, the rabbits were let go at Barwon Park in Geelong. Within 20 or 30 years later there was an impending disaster, there was hoards of rabbits and the states of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia were building fences all over the place to try ands keep the Victorian rabbits out,” he told Ross and Russel

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