Share
Clip description
CSIRO officers from the Wildlife Survey Section conduct a census on rabbit numbers in their field experiment enclosure c1955.
Curator’s notes
Studies of captive rabbit populations held at differing densities within enclosures, carried out by the Wildlife Survey Section of the CSIRO during the 1950s, resulted in a series of landmark scientific papers being published. Reproduction, behaviour, social interaction and seasonal effects on grazing were examined, and the findings used in efforts to control Australia’s feral rabbit problem. This clip, shot in 1955, shows the method by which the field scientists track the rabbits’ reproductive and survival capabilities, subject to control measures, by carrying out periodic censuses on the warrens.
