Rabbits make home under Sydney Harbour Bridge in time for Easter

Rabbits make home under Sydney Harbour Bridge in time for Easter
By Sean Plambeck

Watership downtown .... a rapidly expanding colony of rabbits is happily occupying one of Australia's premier waterfront addresses - underneath the southern pylon of Sydney Harbour Bridge

* Rabbits move in under iconic bridge
* More bunnies appear as Easter approaches
* Experts fear rabbit numbers on the rise

A FAMILY of rabbits has taken up residence at one of Australia's premier waterfront addresses - underneath the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25307626-421,00.html

The bunnies have made themselves at home in a fenced-off area under the southern pylon, enjoying stunning harbour views of the Opera House and Luna Park.

And just in time for Easter the colony has been breeding like, well, rabbits - with numbers swelling to more than a dozen.

Edwina Illman from local tourist guides BridgeClimb said the ever-expanding rabbit clan was proving almost as much of an attraction as the iconic structure they live under.

"The rabbits have been a little bit like the Lithgow panther," Ms Illman said. "A lot of people have seen them but it hadn't really been proven.

"It's the most unlikely place to see rabbits … these are the cute and colourful kind and you don't expect to see (them) under 200,000 cars that cross every day."

It is believed the rabbits were originally pets that either escaped or were dumped by their owners. They set up behind a maintenance fence, keeping them safe from predators like dogs.

It could soon be getting crowded under there. A breeding pair of rabbits can spawn 184 offspring in just 18 months.

Ms Illman said the best times to see the rabbits were early morning, late afternoon or in the evening. With cooler weather on the way it was hoped the bunnies would be more active.

Cute one day, a plague the next

This year marks the 150th anniversary of rabbits being introduced as a pest in Australia.

In 1859, 24 wild rabbits were released near Geelong. By the 1920s there were an estimated 10 billion rabbits causing catastrophic economic and ecological damage.

CSIRO researcher Dr Tanja Strive said the rabbits were cute living under the bridge but in other parts of the country they were "a big worry".

Rabbits still cause $200 million of agricultural damage each year and pose a threat to 75 threatened species of plants, Dr Strive said.

While the rabbit population has been declining thanks to the release of biological controls like the myxomatosis virus in the 1950s and calicivirus about 15 years ago more are building up a genetic resistance.

"We're going to need to go back and pick up our game on all fronts, including shooting, poisoning, fumigation, warren destruction and bio-controls," Dr Strive said.

Researchers are also looking for volunteers to take part in a national rabbit census next month with information available at www.rabbitscan.net.au/.

The results of the rabbit spotting will be plotted on a Google map.