Why Coordinated Rabbit Control With Neighbours Matters

Rabbit control is significantly more effective when neighbouring landowners work together. Rabbits do not recognise fence lines or property boundaries, which means untreated land can provide a source of reinvasion after control has been completed on nearby properties.

Coordinating rabbit management across adjoining properties can help reduce the overall rabbit population, protect previous control work and create stronger long-term results for the wider area.

Benefits of working with neighbours may include:

• Reducing reinvasion from surrounding properties
• Increasing the overall success of control programmes
• Coordinating baiting, shooting and follow-up control
• Sharing information about active warrens and rabbit movement
• Choosing suitable times to carry out control across several properties
• Sharing contractors, equipment or other resources
• Reducing rabbit pressure across a wider district
• Improving long-term suppression rather than treating individual properties in isolation

Neighbour coordination can form part of a longer-term rabbit management plan alongside regular monitoring, seasonal control, follow-up inspections and record keeping. Even a small number of surviving rabbits can quickly rebuild a population, so continued cooperation after the initial control work is important.

Have you worked with neighbouring landowners on rabbit control?

Share how the programme was organised, which control methods were coordinated, what challenges you experienced and whether working together improved the results. You can also use this discussion to ask for advice about approaching neighbours or starting a local rabbit control group.

Further reading: Managing and Monitoring Rabbits in New Zealand

Important: Always follow product label directions, legal requirements and advice from your local council or regional authority when using bait, poison or other controlled products.