What made European rabbits pests in Australia?

Answer 1

Rabbits - considered the most destructive introduced pest in Australia - cause damage in the following ways.
Seven rabbits are said to each eat as much as one sheep, but they breed much more quickly. Their ability to increase rapidly and spread meant they literally ate their way across the nation. Grass, crops, young plants and trees are some of the things they consider delicious. Their diet, though, results in large areas of land being made into eroded wastelands. Revegetation is difficult unless they have been depleted in an area by introduced viruses. They particularly destroy leguminous plants which cannot then enrich the soil. These useful plants are replaced by weedy varieties that thrive on lower nutrient-rich soil.
Rabbits also compete with and displace the native animals which do not breed as rapidly. Rabbit mothers produce about five litters a year, with about six new little rabbits in each. This is thought to have affected the Bilby population, as just one example.

Answer 2

They breed like rabbits and use up valuable pasture as well as undermining and destabilising the ground.

because they are wild animals and a pest to humans :)

Further information:

The European rabbit has caused an ecological disaster in Australia.

Rabbits eat the native vegetation which is the primary food source of Australian native animals. This loss of native food sources has led to the extinction of many Australian mammal species. Rabbits breed much faster than Australia's native animals, so competition for food sources is high. The rabbit has had a large impact on the bilby for another reason as well. Rabbits dig burrows which cause problems for the bilby's habitat, as they tend to cause the bilbies to be caved in.

Further, rabbits tend to eat vegetation right down to the roots, meaning that the plant cannot regrow, and revegetation does not occur. This can certainly lead to indigenous plant species being wiped out, along with the fauna. And because rabbits eat vegetation down to the roots, this means there are fewer low-growing shrubs and grasses to prevent erosion from wind and rain. This in turn leads to increased desertification.

Rabbits have caused huge problems for Australia's agricultural industry, wiping out entire crops. They also eat the food that livestock require, so this impacts on the health of sheep and cattle, especially in more arid areas.

Answer 3

Rabbits were introduced to Australia and had few predators, because they were foreign to the continent. With its lack of predators, the rabbits were able to populate without being hunted by anything.

Answer 4

They breed (it only takes a month for rabbits to be born)

Answer 5

The main reason for rabbits to proliferate in Australia is the absence of natural predators on the mainland. Apart from birds of prey and dingoes, there are few predators of rabbits.

Answer 6

Favorable climate, good food supply, lack of predators.

Answer 7

Germs and the special bugs they carry.