05/04/2016
More Info from the draft report.
As a matter of interest, Thomas Austin was the clown that imported 24 bunnies & released them on his property at Winchelsea, Victoria in 1859. Once established they advanced at a rate of 75 miles per year. Our Mr Austin was obviously a man of intelligence & foresight ! NOT.
2.1 How it began
Non-native animals were introduced in NSW in 1788 when the First Fleet carried a consignment of livestock including pigs, cattle, rabbits and horses. Rodents, such as the house mouse and black rat are also thought to have arrived during European settlement (Caughley et al. 1998) (see Figure 2.4).
By the 1900s rabbits had spread to Western Australia after being released for hunting on a property near Geelong in 1859 (Williams et al. 1995). The spread of other pest animals followed: the fox was first released in southern Victoria in the 1870s and quickly established, becoming common in NSW in the early 1900s (Saunders et al. 1995). Domestic dogs arrived with the first settlers and quickly started to hybridise with dingoes and become feral (Fleming et al. 2001).
Established colonies of feral pigs existed in NSW prior to the 1870s due to the practice of allowing domestic pigs to free range (Pullar 1950). Feral goats probably established in the same way and were often released as a future source of food (Parkes et al. 1996). Feral cats may have arrived earlier via Dutch shipwrecks in the 17th century (Burbidge & McKenzie 1989). Deer were introduced in Australia in the early 19th century for hunting (Rolls 1969). Carp were first introduced in the 1860s but remained relatively confined until a major flooding event in the Murray-Darling Basin during the 1970s saw their numbers explode (Koehn et al. 2000).
In Australia, of the 79 (mammal) species introduced, 49 became established (some only locally or for limited duration) (Long 2003). Although mammals predominate as introduced pests, 20 bird species, four reptiles, 23 freshwater fish and one amphibian have also established on the mainland (Bomford & Hart, 2002). 2