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Peter Rabbit Is a Pest Species!
- Helen Charles
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
How Rabbits Wreak Havoc on the Australian Landscape
It’s the 1970s, and one of my earliest reading memories involves a very cheeky little rabbit.
Peter Rabbit.
He was brave, mischievous and endlessly curious - far more adventurous than his sensible sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail. And then there was the villain of the story: the grumpy farmer, Mr McGregor, who selfishly refused to share his French beans and radishes.
Poor Peter Rabbit.
Mean Mr McGregor!
Fast forward to 2026… and how my perspective has changed.
These days I manage a block of rural conservation land in regional Victoria. I’m surrounded by native wildlife, farmland and a landscape absolutely pockmarked with rabbit holes. Burrows collapse underfoot, seedlings vanish overnight, and erosion scars the soil.
Turns out… I’m Mr McGregor now. And the rabbits? They’re one of Australia’s most destructive invasive pest species.
Rabbits Don’t Belong Here
Rabbits are not native to Australia.
They arrived over 160 years ago on a ship from England, brought over by a wealthy English colonist named Thomas Austin. In 1859, he released just 24 rabbits onto his property, Barwon Park, near Geelong in Victoria.
Why did he bring them?
Not for food. Not for nostalgia. But for sport - so he could hunt them.
As rabbits do best… some escaped.
And that small act sparked one of the most dramatic ecological disasters in Australia’s history.
(You can still visit Barwon Mansion today - now a National Trust property - and walk the same grounds where this story began.)
Breeding Like… Well, Rabbits
Rabbits are prolific breeders.
A single pair of rabbits can multiply into up to 180 rabbits in just 18 months.
They dig extensive underground burrow systems that:
Damage tree and plant root systems
Cause soil erosion
Create unstable ground for livestock and native animals
And when it comes to eating… rabbits don’t mess around.
They are voracious herbivores, grazing plants right down to the ground and eating up to one-third of their body weight every single day.
This includes:
Native plants
Seedlings and regenerating vegetation
Valuable pasture
Crops and herbs
They also compete directly with native animals for food and shelter - and spread weed seeds far and wide.
Suddenly Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail don’t seem quite so innocent…
Don’t We Have Predators?
Yes… and no.
Australia does have some rabbit predators, but many of them - like foxes and feral cats - are also introduced pest species that cause enormous harm to native wildlife.
One native predator does love rabbits though: the wedge-tailed eagle.
In fact, I do recall reading that a wedge-tail eagle could potentially eat one rabbit a day, so a pair of wedge-tailed eagles on a property could be taking in excess of 700 rabbits a year. Nature doing its thing - when we let it!
And then there’s us.
As human apex predators, we’ve also found many culinary uses for rabbits:
Rabbit pot pie
Thai rabbit curry
Pan-fried rabbit thighs soaked in buttermilk and crumbed (one of my favourites!)
Eating feral animals can be surprisingly… posh!
Why Teaching Children Matters
There is no quick fix to Australia’s rabbit problem.
But one of the most powerful tools we do have is education.
It’s vital that we teach the next generation of nature stewards that:
Rabbits are invasive, not native
Cute doesn’t mean harmless
Human choices have long-lasting environmental consequences
By sharing the story of how rabbits arrived in Australia, children begin to understand:
What invasive species are
How ecosystems can become unbalanced
Why food webs matter
That eating feral species like rabbits can be delicious
How protecting native biodiversity requires informed action
Peter Rabbit might be a beloved storybook character - but in Australia, rabbits are anything but harmless.
And understanding that difference is the first step towards caring for our unique and fragile landscape.
Want to learn more about native and invasive species?
If this kind of ecological storytelling fascinates you, I run workshops on:
Bees
Looking after nature
The food web
Biodiversity
Pollinators
Sustainability
and the incredible interconnections of our natural world
I’d love to share this wonder with your school, community group or organisation.
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