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Managing the European Rabbit: Converging Interests Between Australian Research for Rabbit Control and European Research for their Conservation

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Lagomorph Biology

In Europe, European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are a natural part of the fauna, or recognized traditionally as such, and their conservation is a primary management objective (see Letty et al. 2008, this book). Rabbits are a key grazing species in the Mediterranean shrub lands of Spain, Portugal and southern France and they are the primary prey of endangered predators such as the Imperial Eagle Aquila adalberti, and the Iberian Lynx, Lynx pardinus. Rabbits are also important as wild game and support major hunting industries, in France, Portugal and Spain. By contrast, in Australia and New Zealand, rabbits are recognized pests and are vigorously suppressed. Despite these opposing aims, however, international collaboration has grown over the last 25 years and has greatly increased our knowledge of the management of European rabbits. This collaboration was stimulated by Ken Myers and Charles MacInness who organized the 1st World Lagomorph Conference held in Guelph, Canada, in 1979. Contacts made between scientists at that time led to very useful advances in rabbit research and the 2nd World Lagomorph Conference in Vairao, Portugal, 26–30 July, 2004, provided an opportunity to review some of the progress made as well as looking towards future progress.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Brian Cooke

  2. Charles Darwin Foundation, Casilla, 17-01-3891, Quito, Ecuador

    Brian Cooke

  3. Invasive Animals Co-operative Research Centre, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Brian Cooke

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  1. Brian Cooke
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  1. CIBIO Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-661, Vairão, Vila do Conde, Portugal

    Paulo C. Alves (Faculdade de Ciências) & Nuno Ferrand (Faculdade de Ciências) (Faculdade de Ciências) &  (Faculdade de Ciências)

  2. Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 33, 1180, Vienna, Austria

    Klaus Hackländer

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Cooke, B. (2008). Managing the European Rabbit: Converging Interests Between Australian Research for Rabbit Control and European Research for their Conservation. In: Alves, P.C., Ferrand, N., Hackländer, K. (eds) Lagomorph Biology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-72446-9_21

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