Rabbit Control

Feral rabbits are classified as biosecurity matter under the Biosecurity Act 2015, and all landholders in New South Wales are legally required to manage biosecurity risks on their properties.

Council's Role

Council is responsible for rabbit control only on Council-managed land. While we do not manage rabbit issues on private properties, we work with landowners to develop strategic, location-based approaches for effective rabbit control.

For properties over 10 hectares, contact Local Land Services on 1300 795 299 for assistance with designing, risk assessing, and implementing approved rabbit control programs.

What Council Does

Council runs an annual rabbit control program in three stages:

  1. Monitoring
    Assess rabbit population size and distribution.

  2. Free Feeding & Trapping
    Conduct free feeding for 3 days, then trap on the 4th day. Caught rabbits are blood-tested for Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV), also known as Calici virus.

  3. Virus Introduction
    Introduce RHDV to populations where it is not already present.

These efforts help protect our parks, reserves, and natural areas, reduce physical damage (e.g. holes, uneven ground), and safeguard planting and landscaping programs. Rabbits also compete with native wildlife for food and habitat, making control essential.

Council monitors rabbit populations across the shire. If numbers rise to plague-like levels, we may escalate control efforts, including additional methods such as shooting, to minimise environmental and community impact.

 What You Can Do

Feral_european_Rabbit

Report rabbit activity via the Feral Scan website

  • Visit the website or download the FeralScan Mobile App from the App Store or Google Play.
  • Log the exact location and time of sightings on the map.

FeralScan is hosted by the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) and supports regional Natural Resource Management (NRM) groups, local Councils, and landholders.

Your reports help Council develop, implement, and monitor rabbit control programs on Council-managed land. We follow up on individual reports as resources and priorities allow.

Landowner Tip:
Protect valuable garden plantings using guards or low-level mesh fencing.

 

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