1887: The invasion of the rabbit – Stuff.co.nz

THE PRESS 160 YEARS is a series marking the launch of The Press newspaper in Christchurch on May 25, 1861. Between now and the anniversary, The Press will revisit stories from every year of publication.

Canterbury was preoccupied with an infestation of rabbits in the late 1880s. They were to the north of us and heading south. They were crossing the border from Otago.

It was even a talking point during an otherwise dry pre-election address by Premier Julius Vogel when he spoke at the Theatre Royal on July 19, 1887.

Stacy Squires/Stuff

This rabbit in north Canterbury is probably the distant descendant of those that preoccupied 19th century politicians.

He had been looking into this question lately, and it seemed to him that Canterbury was threatened with an invasion of rabbits which would reduce by one half the carrying capacity of the land, The Press reported.

He need only point to the examples of Southland and Otago to show the evil effects of the pest. Some years back these districts exported 46 per cent of the total value of wool for the colony. Now it had fallen to 25 per cent, and all this was due to the incursion of the rabbits which had taken place there.

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In view of the importance of dealing with the matter without any of the delay which had taken place elsewhere, and which was to some extent responsible for the damage done, the Government had taken the responsibility of ordering netting to be brought out in anticipation of Parliament dealing with the question on an ample scale. He could only hope that they would not allow such desolation on the Canterbury Plains as had occurred in Otago and Southland.

Another idea had been floated at a Canterbury Chamber of Commerce meeting in May. How about using stoats and weasels to combat the rabbits? While some objection has been taken the evidence of a most reliable authority on the subject proves clearly that the nature and instinct of the animals will prevent them from ever becoming a nuisance in the colony.

As for germ warfare promoted by the celebrated inoculator Louis Pasteur and others, The Press urged caution in an editorial published on December 3, 1887: It is to be remembered that many diseases fatal to mankind have arisen from cognate forms in the lower animals. It is necessary to repel the invasion of the rabbit, but if the war is to be waged with microbes and sarcoptes cuniculi, the matter should be cautiously undertaken.

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1887: The invasion of the rabbit - Stuff.co.nz