Page 57 - World of Animals - Issue #33

Alien invasion

Multiplying like rabbits

The true scourge of Australia’s native wildlife
has a friendly face and a fluffy tail Native range

“The introduction of a few rabbits could do little harm and Europe
Introduced range
might provide a touch of home, in addition to a spot of hunting.” Australia
So said an English settler named Thomas Austin, who released Method of invasion
24 wild European rabbits onto his Victoria estate in 1859. He Introduced by European
settlers
should have been a little quicker on the draw. The escapees
quickly multiplied like, well, rabbits, and are now widespread
across Australia, where their destructive habits are blamed for
directly or indirectly causing the extinction of around an eighth
of all native mammal species. Their appetite for native plants
also causes serious soil erosion problems, as it leaves the top
layer, which is rich with vital organic matter and organisms,
exposed to the elements.
The British should have known better, for they themselves are
a victim of this relentless invasive species – it was introduced
onto the island by the Romans 2,000 years ago.
“Their destructive habits

are blamed for...causing
the extinction of around

an eighth of all native
mammal species”

Wiping out their cousins

The rugged American invader that has all but wiped
out one of the icons of the British countryside
Built to survive the long, unforgiving Canadian winters, the grey squirrel is
able to outcompete Europe’s native red squirrels in almost every category
– it is larger, able to store more fat and reproduces at a faster rate.
Compounding the red squirrel’s misery, their grey cousins are carriers of Native range
North-eastern America
the squirrel pox virus, which is harmless to them but deadly to reds. Introduced range
First arriving in Britain in the 1870s as an exotic ornament for stately Throughout England, Ireland
gardens, the greys now outnumber reds by 66:1 – although thanks to and Northern Italy
Method of invasion
the efforts of squirrel trappers, the red squirrel is now making a modest Introduced
comeback in the north of England.
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