Hi all,
I've just returned from a trip to NZ. I won't bore you with too many details
except to say that Yellow-eyed penguins are pretty fabulous animals.
More importantly while I was there Rabbit Calicivirus (RCV) was discovered in
the South Island. It was apparently introduced illegally into NZ by person or
persons unknown (although one tabloid newspaper was adamant that these
unknown persons were definitely not New Zealanders). Farmers in the South
Island have been aware of its presence for the past two months and have been
actively spreading the disease. This consists of finding infected rabbits,
vitamising their infected organs and either mixing this with carrots etc and
spreading it around or injecting it directly into trapped rabbits and letting
them return to their warren. It appears to be killing rabbits quitte well in
NZ. However the different farming practices in NZ compared to Australia may
have something to do with this.
The major concern for the avifauna of NZ is that the decimation of the rabbit
population may lead the (introduced) predators (weasal and stoat) to make a
meal of some of the ground nesting birds, mainly the Black Stilt (only 100
known to exist) and the Yellow-eyed penguin. Alternatively the removal of
rabbits may lead to a rapid decline in predator numbers and may actually
improve breeding success by these birds. Most of the critically threatened
species of birds in NZ are now only found on offshore islands so the
introduction of RCV will have no immediate effect on them.
Cheers
Stuart.
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