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At this rate the Aussie super rabbit will be fully evolved in 100 years. Immune to all poisons, diseases, and bullets.

Hopefully their war against rabbits do well, they still haven't recovered from the loss against the emus

It's fascinating how we can push many species to extinction without trying but when we try we are hopelessly flummoxed

My grand parents had the same problem. They kept some rabbits for Christmas dinner as is customary in that region. They multiplied and dug out of the cages filling the entire 2 acre plot of land. They separated the males and females but they just dug tunnels and kept on procreating. In the end the the solution was simple. They got 5 cats. Now there are 12 cats and no rabbits.

My grandpa grew up in the area surrounding the Rabbit proof fence and he used to tell a story of the rabbits running at the fence in droves. They wouldn't be able to clamber over and they couldn't dig underneath so they would run into the fence and more and more rabbits would clamber on top of them making a rabbit staircase. The first part is certainly true however it has been quite a while since he told me this so this second part is what I remember however it may be incorrect. The fence had in parts been electrified and when the rabbits would run into the fence they would be shocked and die. The other rabbits would just clamber over the dead. Some of them would make it over but a pile of rabbit corpses would be left on the fence for the unlucky station owner to clean up. Cheers for the video

Hey hey finally a subject i know a bit about 😂 Im a truck driver in Western Australia, rabbits are nearly endemic all over the state. Youre MUCH more likely to see rabbits than kangaroos while driving. Myxamatosis is still around, and a major concern for residential rabbit owners 1080 baits are extremely unpopular as pet dogs often find them, consume them and die quite painfully if not seen by a vet immediately... Think within 30 mins. The fence is mostly a tourist attraction thing now. If you ever come here and want to see it, head down towards Corrigin on the aptly named Rabbit Proof Fence Rd and you can park right next to the original fence from the 1800s EDIT: just realised that thumbnail is actually from RPF Rd Quairaiding Regional councils will often have game hunts with prizes awarded for the most rabbits/foxes/cats/pigs caught in a given time. Fun fact: Anketell has a major industrial road named after him

3:20 - Chapter 1 - Setting the stage 5:00 - Chapter 2 - The problem arrives 6:45 - Chapter 3 - Ecological effects 8:20 - Chapter 4 - Building the fence 10:45 - Chapter 5 - Maintaining the fence 13:35 - Chapter 6 - Did the rabbit fence work ? 14:40 - Chapter 7 - Searching for an effective plan B 17:05 - Chapter 8 - Current rabbit proofing efforts

Love ya work Simon, small criticism you say at around the 17:50 mark that we have 'Native' Fox's and feral cats. Neither of these are native to Australia :)

I made a living rabbiting up until 2017 when Calicivirus nailed the populations where I am ending that chapter of my life. Nowadays we see waves of Calici, and the rabbits numbers ebb and flow, but the areas I used to work, which would literally move at dawn/dusk are now baron of rabbits, and farming has reclaimed the land. Even Akubra sources its rabbit fur internationally now, given the low numbers of rabbits and hunters offering skins.

Australian here. Our last resort is to get the Emus against them. It's a controversial and difficult plan, But we must put aside our differences for the greater good of the country. I am hopeful of the upcoming negotiations

Good video, mate. 👍 The rabbits initially introduced around Sydney with The First Fleet were domestic and couldn't really cope with the blistering summers, so they never really got going in large numbers. The problems arose with Austin's rabbits, which were a wild/domestic hybrid that handle extreme weather much better. He released 24 breeding pairs along with hares, blackbirds, partridges and sparrows. Nice work, blonk. 😒 They were released at his mansion in Barwon Park near Winchelsea in Victoria, 37 km (23 miles for the Yanks 😉) SW of the city of Geelong, where I live. And you know the rest. As far as camels are concerned - our feral dromedary population has dwindled to "only" 300,000. Stay tuned for the big brain program to control them using thousands of introduced African lions. What could go wrong?

Proud Aussie here and long term fan of your various YT channels. Loving the occasional Australian focused video. Keep it up mate.

I've got a fearless rabbit family living under my shed. They charge at my german Sheperd and it's really funny

I remember as kid watching the movie "the Rabbit Proof Fence" with the 2 sisters in the audience. Listening to their tale in their own words after was moving beyond anything else I've experienced

My late grandfather - the only one who ever nicknamed me - called me wabbit. He's the only grandparent who I've lost, coincidentally. I miss him and always think of him when I see "wabbit"

Simon: "It looks weird and green, but it tastes amazing." *Simon goes to take a sip, camera cuts away before the bottle actually hits Simon's lips* You're not fooling me, Fact Boy.

The important question: Did they get the Rabbits to pay for the fence?

As a kid, we often had 4 legged chicken for dinner. My mother didn’t like the taste of rabbit, so she soaked it overnight in salt water, then in chicken broth during the day before roasting it. I also remember a rabbit plague where driving down a road at night resulted in the death of hundreds as they were so tightly packed they couldn’t get out of the way of the car wheels.

G'day Simon, two things, during the great depression of the 30's a huge amount of meat consumed in Australia was rabbit meat, it was common for men to head out hunting rabbits to support their families and generate a few bob by selling the fur and meat. Also for those living in the west it's easy to refer to those in the east as being on the other side of the rabbit proof! And it still happens today, you sometime hear someone refer to eastern staters as being on "the other side of the rabbit proof"!

Australian here, work on a farm in the Central West of NSW. I haven't seen a rabbit in ages, lucky to have one Warren on the property now. The virus smashed them big time

It's funny that rabbits managed to multiply in such numbers in Australia, where everything that moves can kill them.

Rabbits, cane toads, (feral) cats and camels. All things that were introduced that have and continue to cause serious ecological damage

"Well, that's no ordinary rabbit! That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on! That rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide, it's a killer!"

'Soylent Green is people!' - Detective Thorn

You HAVE to do a vid about the Aussie's new feral cat problem they started by trying to keep the rabbits in check!!

This should fit one on of your many channels: the tidal waves of mouse outbreaks in Australia. I’ve seen newscasts online on the most recent one.

Yesss!! Great video! More videos on Australia please!! Heaps of projects to look at; Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Sydney Metro, Westconnex, West Gate Bridge, Cross River Rail, New Western Sydney Airport!! The list goes on.

Have you done an episode on the PT Boats? I know folks get all excited over the big ships, but smaller boats can be, and often are, rather useful.

“An out of control horde of Chihuahuas” - the premise of what surely would be a blockbuster movie!

Cheers for that Simon, I love it when you showcase my Country. Even if it is over something like a really long fence or a bloody stupid Emu War. 👍

A big hello Simon from the colony down under. Love your work mate! Massive fan cobber. Mega projects and the casual criminalist are my favourites. I especially like the great maple syrup heist and the titanic pcp incident. 🤣 All the best to you and your family mate. Take care. 👍🍻

Two comments, There is an Australian movie called the Rabbit Proof Fence which covers some aboriginal girls who were removed from their communities and had to walk the fence to return home, it was well over 1000km and I had the honour to meet one of the women and spend half a day talking with her about her life. Living in Pt Hedland I was a vollie State Emergency Service airsearch team leader. I remember being briefed about 2 people who had gone missing and the copper was giving me the details as we pulled out the maps. My comment at the time was ohhh sh t we are going out beyond the Rabbit Proof fence meaning it was right out in the wilderness.

How about the turtle fence that’s hundred maybe even 1000’s of miles in Nevada.. it surrounds the test site and the National Parks. I love seeing the hippie kids in 120deg checking that tiny little fence

I ALWAYS watch Simon's Australia videos just to laugh my ass off at his slaughter of the place names

G'day Simon, excellent history of our ongoing battle against the ultra-fertile rabbits. One novel and somewhat traditional way of reducing the numbers by a small amount was in the manufacture of hats, fur felt. Every member of the Australian Defence Forces, Army, Navy and Air Force is issued a wide brimmed hat, fur felt which is part of their summer uniform and for the Australian Army constitutes the internationally recognised Australian Slouch Hat. Indeed, I had one issued when I joined the RAAF in the 70s. Now, there is only one company left that makes hats, fur felt; Akubra, a family business that began around 120 years ago in Tasmania and then moved to New South Wales. Back in the old days fur felt bush and Army hats were made from the pelts of wild rabbits. Each wide-brimmed took between 12 to 16 rabbit pelts. In the old days, especially around the times of the world wars, maybe 1 million rabbit pelts were used to make these iconic hats. But even a million rabbits every couple of years wasn’t even a small dent in the overall rabbit population. Sadly, that tiny proportion of wild rabbits used for hats or food is now history. In modern times it became far more efficient and economical to use commercially bred rabbits for hat making. Wild rabbits were assaulted with so many chemicals and their pelts were of extremely low quality. Then in the 1990s, after the rabbit Calicivirus was used so widely across the country, it was difficult for commercial breeders to earn a living. Hat makers were only a small part of their business. Their bread and butter were butchers’ shops, supermarkets and the restaurant industry. Meat for human consumption has to be 100% pure; this and several other factors forced up operating costs and lowered profits. Now there are only a handful of rabbit breeders left in business. In 2014 an Akubra company family member reported to the media that for the first time in their history they were importing animal fur to supplement pelts from local breeders. So, there is the crazy irony of Australia having to import rabbit and other animal fur into a country with an estimated rabbit population of over 200 million animals. Oddly, in the same media briefing, Akubra announced that it had just begun exporting hats to Tibet and that there was great interest in their products across Asia and even the Ukraine. Since political upheavals in that region have become common, the potential for their use of Australian made hats has become endangered, unlike the rabbit population. Cheers, Simon and thanks again for telling the world of this environmental crisis that is little known outside our borders. BH

Rabbit Proof Fence is a good movie too. It's about three indigenous children who are taken from their family, then escape a government run centre, and use the Rabbit Proof fence to find their family.

Great vid! 👍I remember as a kid we used 'rabbit' pest controls (Farm in Cornwall UK) with LIMITED effect. Myxomatosis could be seen with the dead or dying rabbits. I do know we were told NEVER to touch them etc.. 😶 It's interesting to note that recently Australia has a huge problem in 'residential areas' with RATS and MICE??

Recreating and reintroducing the Thylocene would work.

Now there is a detectable climatic difference either side of the fence. On the rabbit side it’s now wetter due to tree cover ( it used to be the drier side). On the western side they have cleared and now plough and fallow the land during summer leaving the soil exposed to the sun and creating hot air updrafts which in turn repel moisture laden clouds.

Well done. Simon Well researched

One of my uncles worked on the fence when he came home from the 2nd world war he said the isolation helped him move on from the horrors of the war

The perfect Ad for the Emu alliance. You're a sly devil, indeed, Mr. Whistler!

Another great video. Thanks :)

Thanks for making a thing about a fence interesting!

Rabbits and emus! Way to go Australia 🇦🇺!

What about the Dingos? I'm sure they would love a basically unlimited supply of rabbits?

We regularly use the rabbit proof fence maintenance track to travel between the West Aussi goldfields and the wheatbelt. Big shortcut and better than most of the sealed roads.

16:30 Rather amused that the CALM office is the point of contact for the big scary poison signs.

The average rabbit lives 9 years. In that one rabbit's lifetime, they had over 2000 descendants. And then those descendants each had 2,000 more in the next 9.

Video idea: supplying the world with coffee.

Brilliant Episode

Yes, VERY interesting!!! Thank you.

Now I want to go rabbit hunting in the Outback.

Also an acclaimed movie named 'Rabbit Proof Fence' about the 'stolen generation' Australia's shameful forced removal of indigenous children from their families. We'll worth a look.

Ad read *"tastes delicious" cuts scene before drinking* that great eh? 🤣🤣

I'd like to point out that his statement of 2-5 kids in each litter rabbits have is a huge understatement I've bred several breeds of rabbits and while some did average 2-5 most species of rabbit in my experience have much larger litter like 6-8 young per litter

Do you mix that drink with 8 oz’s of water or 8 oz’s of coke? I guess it depends on how athletic you feel like being for 3-6 months. Explains the 1000hrs of content Simon puts out every week. *BUSINESS BLAZE*

Another excellent episode. Thankyou MP team. A great recent movie about Australia's colonialism and how the treated the indigenous population is an early 2000's movie titled 'Rabbit Proof Fence. A tragic true story. Definitely worth a watch.

I live in the Little Desert regional of Victoria, Australia. The property that I own still had remnants of rabbit fencing around it. From about 1945. Still have rabbits about, but I eat a lot of them as I catch the unlucky ones. They taste nice. 😁

That gunk at the start of video looks like some algae based engine coolant. Or like what comes out of a pond filter.

Simon may gloat about avoiding Raid Shadow Legends but he's taking on some clearly dodgy advertising with this pseudoscientific bollocks. We all love money but don't pretend you believe in your advertisers if you push this slop

What happened to the Dingos? They are a rabbit killing machine.

Very nice to see that you didn’t skip the mixomatosis story, like most explanations do about the fence. It’s one of the most hilarious stuff-ups about nature giving an expected (yet it’s worth trying, invasive species is a grave problem) kick against scientists trying to engineer a solution.

Oh they are so cute! the funny bunny, oh the rabbit habbit!

I raise rabbits, for real... And I wish the Australian government good luck in this monumental undertaking... They're gonna need it.

Hmm, is that stuff addictive? - "Niacin (as nicotinic acid, nicotinamide) 20mg NE/serving 125% DV" With 917% DV of B12, I might not need my daily Marmite! (I'm still not a fan of Vegemite ;-) )

Funny fact: in the 90s a Tv show was broadcast on our public broadcasters kids programming called “The Ferals” and the rabbit in that team is named Mixie after Myxomatosis. We’re a morbid bunch, the character became a mascot of the station and still shows even today

i used to live in the campbelltown area in new south wales a couple of decades ago and one year we had a rabbit plague. you would walk down a suburban street and you'd be bound to see rabbits. i don't know how they got rid of them but they were gone by winter. this happened, coincidentally, in the year of the rabbit.

Don't know if this is a "mega project" but the gradual expansion of wire fencing is very important. Significantly impacted the country, if not the world. More specifically: barbed wire. The death knell of the wild west.

Just set up some posts holding a 360 camera, AI animal recognition software, and an auto aiming device to project pellets of some sort. Technology is cool. I, for example, foresee especially new Zealand to be able to be returned to a pre contact natural world. The question is do we even want that?

so THIS is why I came across so many questions about rabbit populations on an island during secondary school maths

Excellent video.

As someone who grew up in the 70's and 80's on an Australian farm, the maxim that all rabbits must die was deeply held. I still feel guilt if I see a wild rabbit whilst driving and don't make at least a token effort to run it over.

Well, I prefer beer for breakfast. And for lunch, and for teatime. Dinner will do best with wine. And other types of very balanced and nutritional drinks like whisky, gin, vodka etc. may be added to any of those, depending on the occasion.

Yay you did the rabbit proof fence!!!

Yes they are still many rabbits around home today, more them last 15 years, just went through a mice plague about 5 months ago, but now coming into summer all hell will break out with both breeding like hell.

I see the problem . . . They're using chicken wire for their fence.

Animal pests that aren't native to an area are a scourge everywhere. In Texas, it's feral hogs. In Florida, it's iguanas. In South Africa, it's monkeys. In all cases, these pests spread disease and breed fast while destroying the local ecosystem. Watch a video or two about hunting feral hogs and you'll see what I mean.

It’s a dog fence to prevent dingos living south of the fence where sheep farming occurs. Dingoes still predate on calves north of the fence but usually less successfully.

California in the early part of the last century had huge rabbit problems too. There are pictures and film of large rabbit hunts with thousands of rabbits..

Yeah, rabbits. I build my own rabbit-proof fences here in my Ontario backyard, to protect my shrubs and my bean patch. What did rabbits eat before I began to plant beans???

you missed out how at one time there was a bounty on every rabbit you could kill as a kid it was a great way to make pocket money go up in the hills around Canberra as they were all still farm land set some traps and take a 22 with you and pick off a few as well and you had money for your holidays

I would love to see a Collaboration between you and the KZfaqr Isaac Arthur about the Megaproject idea of Orbital Rings.

At the Queensland and New South Wales border ( Gold Coast) We do have a big sign that advises there is a $44k fine for rabbits entering qld. Just have to teach rabbits how to read

What's with Australian Animal Control?, First Rabbits on the main island then Dingos, Emus and then Cats and Rabbits on Macquarie Island. Next time that you decide to eradicate a species please make it the Chihuahua. I'm pretty sure the years of inbreeding has made them more rodent than dog. Given their recent successes maybe it's time for the 2nd Emu wars.

Introduced pests in Australia: Rabbits: food and hunting, destroying flora. Cats: rodent catchers, also excellent at going feral and destroying native wildlife. Foxes: for hunting, see cats for effect, thx Brits! Camels: for desert travel, cause erosion and damage farm equipment Cane Toads: for pest control in cane fields, eat massive numbers of other insects instead and poison native carnivores. Soooo many more.

"Rabbit Proof Fence"! LOL now where have I heard that idea before?

I live near Barwon Manor where Thomas Austin had his estate. You'll still find loads of rabbits in and around the area

Here are some ideas for a megaprojects episode. The USS Monitor, USS Constitution, and USS Enterprise CVN 65.

So your advertising for Althetic Greens which I have honestly never looked at nutritionally but I am a fitness, health, and nutrition expert. All I am going to say is that after a company cites that their product is "engineered to" I am naturally suspicious. I know what that comment usually means from my years of research on supplements, it means the company has done little to No research at all. Especially if the supplement isn't approved by the FDA. If not they could say that what you getting in this supplement is the very best greens but in reality it has little amounting to much more than cow manure. You also advertise for Magic Spoon and I get equally as mad at them for not knowing what harm the excessive amounts of macro nutrients they advertise in their cereal can do to the human body. I have commented about this one their page but no one has responded to me which leaves me to guess it's because I know about nutritional needs and they do not. A general lack of research.

I still remember this thing ,i saw it on tv and i still talk to my friend about it ...they never believe me and now they will .

used to do a fair bit of rabbit shooting as a kid on some properties up around Kalbarri and Horricks, fed the familys for weeks after

How about a video on The Great Emu War? A misguided attempt at wildlife control. Soldiers were sent out with machine guns to kill emus. The emus won. True.

I️ really didn’t watch the video but something tells me rabbits or rabbit fences are the LAST of Australian problems we need to worry about.

My dogs are huge fans of this video. They pay VERY close attention to all the rabbit footage!!😆😆

Further reading for the interested -"The Year of the Angry Rabbit" by Russell Braddon.

Imagine a horror movie but instead zombies, just thousands of cute rabbits charging the fences while people take it very seriously and try to fight them off

Live next to it in ravensthorpe. I hear the dingos are western side of the fence now so it worked against them for along time

The Rabbit Proof Fence movie about following the fence is awesome, but have tissues nearby. Apparently it's based on a true story. But a follow up video would be The Dingo Fence.