Making an impact: National Feral Rabbit Management Coordinator


Feral rabbits occupy two thirds of Australia, impact 322 rare and threatened species and cost more than $200 million a year in lost agricultural production and control costs.

The National Feral Rabbit Management Coordination Program’s newly released 2025 Impact Report shows the scale of the response.

National Feral Rabbit Management Coordinator, Heidi Kleinert, meets Alex Johnson from the City of Greater Geelong at a recent forum.

Over the past year the program delivered 77 stakeholder engagements, 49 online and 28 in-person events, two regional field tours and two webinars reaching over 220 attendees. The PestSmart European rabbit web page attracted more than 7,800 visitors, and the new Feral Rabbit Newsletter has already reached 250 subscribers.

The program has also been reviewing 11 Standard Operating Procedures and one Code of Practice for rabbits, with new versions available on PestSmart later this year. The program continues to bring together industry, research and government stakeholders through communities of practice such as the Australian Rabbit Managers Network and the Peri-urban Forum.