Local action on rising rabbit numbers
Local councils play a big role in pest management. Heidi Kleinert, National Feral Rabbit Management Coordinator, has been working with several councils from across Australia to improve their knowledge of best practice rabbit management and help them assess the rabbit programs’ effectiveness.
Many councils have experienced a ‘community push’ to do something different about rabbit control. They have seen rabbit numbers increase and are recording extensive damage to the natural environment, parks and gardens, sporting fields, tree plantings and cemeteries.
Here are a few sample initiatives from across the states that showcase various rabbit management programs at different project stages of their implementation.
Phase 1: Empower & Community Engagement
Southern Downs Regional Council, Queensland, is working with its Youth Council to nominate new ideas to engage the community about rabbit management.
Greater City of Bendigo, Victoria is hosting several community information sessions across its region to help community and land holders gain a better understanding of rabbit management.
The City of Casey, Victoria, recently hosted a stakeholder workshop to co‑design its new pest management strategy. Bringing together more than 40 representatives from the community, industry, not‑for‑profit organisations, and neighbouring councils, the team has compiled all feedback and will use these insights to develop a draft strategy in 2026.
Ku-ring-gai Council, NSW, in conjunction with Greater Sydney Local Land Services undertake targeted wild rabbit control programs aimed at reducing rabbit numbers and their impacts on public assets, private gardens and native wildlife through a strategic and coordinated control campaign. They run a campaign to encourage community to report rabbit sightings online using RabbitScan.
Phase 2: Manage
To protect the local environment, Mount Barker District Council, together with Landscapes South Australia (Hills and Fleurieu) and Rabbit‑Free Australia, has implemented a coordinated rabbit‑control program.
Recent on ground actions have included:
- the targeted release of RHDV K5 calicivirus
- fumigation and destruction of warrens and removal of rabbit habitat
- community education and engagement to encourage coordinated local efforts
- short programs of thermal-assisted ground shooting.
These combined measures highlight the importance of a community-wide approach to reduce rabbit numbers, and council is monitoring the impact of activities to inform future management strategies.
Phase 3: Manage and Improve
Greater City of Geelong, Vic
The City of Greater Geelong and its community recognised the growing impact of rabbit populations and undertook extensive community engagement from November 2018 to August 2020. This included workshops, online surveys, and contributions from the Rural and Peri‑Urban Advisory Committee. The process helped gather a wide range of ideas, concerns, and opportunities to inform meaningful recommendations.
The Council committed to providing adequate, long-term resourcing to achieve effective rabbit control on City-managed land and support landowners and community groups to control rabbits on private land.
Activities include:
- developing a Rabbit Action Plan
- identifying priority areas using a rabbit‑priority scoring tool
- collecting monitoring data to guide on‑ground action
- developing a suite of community engagement and support tools including a Rural Landowner Education Toolkit as part of the Restoring Rural Landscapes Program
- introducing an incentive program to assist landowners
- supporting Landcare groups and rabbit action groups to host field days and local activities.
The city has shared with the community their progress and has committed to renewing this plan in 2026.
More information can be found here.