Review of existing Red Fox, Feral Cat, Feral Rabbit, Feral Pig
and Feral Goat control in Australia. II. Information Gaps Ben
Reddiex, David M. Forsyth. Department of the Environment and
Heritage, 2004 7. Results and Discussion (continued) The first
stage of this review (Reddiex et al. 2004) showed that there was
little reliable knowledge about the benefits of feral rabbit
control for native species and ecological communities. In
contrast, there is some evidence of the impacts of rabbits on
native species and ecological communities for rangelands and
higher rainfall areas (see Williams et al. 1995). Feral rabbits
are believed to impact on native fauna via direct competition
for resources and through behavioural interactions such as
exclusion of native animals from feeding areas (Williams et al.
1995). However, few studies have experimentally investigated
these potential impacts (but see Robley et al. 2002). There are
reliable methods for estimating the relative abundance (i.e.,
spotlight counts; Caley and Morl