Australian Rabbit Plague Puzzle Solved With DNA Profiling
According to a recent DNA analysis, Thomas Austin's estate Barwon Park, located close to Geelong in Victoria, is where the "rabbit pandemic" in Australia started. When five domestic animals arrived in Sydney on the First Fleet in 1788, the first rabbits were brought to mainland Australia. Before 1859, there would be at least 90 more importations, but none of these populations would spread. However, rabbits would expand throughout the entire continent in 50 years at a rate of 100 km (62 miles) per year. The rate of colonization for an introduced mammal has never been faster than this. What then altered and how did the invasion start after 1859? Long believed to have started at Thomas Austin's farm Barwon Park, close to Geelong in Victoria, the "rabbit plague" of Australia is believed by historians and the general public to have originated there. An international team of researchers led by the University of Cambridge and CIBIO Institute in Portugal finally off...