Pittwater Life March 2017 Issue

News
Bunny watch
Rabbit owners on the
Northern Beaches
have been warned to
vaccinate their pets
given the release of a
new strain of wild rabbit
control virus (Calici-
Boost) in March.
Led by Greater Sydney
Local Land Services,
the new strain of Rabbit
Haemorrhagic Disease
Virus will be released in
National Parks and other
local reserves across the
Northern Beaches and
northern Sydney region
where high feral rabbit
populations occur.
Northern Beaches
Council Deputy General
Manager Ben Taylor said
that controlling feral animals
was an important
part of protecting native
animals and the precious
natural environment.
“Feral rabbits have a
significant impact on
the Northern Beaches,
competing with endangered
penguins and
bandicoots for habitat,
as well as damaging
reserves and residential
areas,” he explained.
The new strain of the
virus is more suitable
to temperate Australian
conditions, has no impact
on native or other
animals, and is considered
a more humane and
effective form of control
for wild rabbits than
previous strains.
“But we want to
ensure no-one’s pet is
harmed so I encourage
all people with pet
rabbits to speak to their
vet and make sure their
vaccinations are up to
date,” Mr Taylor urged.
He added it was
important to note that
current vaccinations
for RHDV1 are perfectly
effective in protecting
domestic rabbits from
infection from the new
RHDV1-K5 strain.
A litter bit that
goes a long way
R
esidents of the former Pittwater
Council region have demonstrated
their deep connection to community by
registering 25 sites for Clean Up Australia
Day on Sunday 5 March.
This represents more than 40 per
cent of the total 62 sites registered
from Manly to Palm Beach and west to
Belrose in the new combined Northern
Beaches Council area.
Tonnes of new rubbish is strewn
around our streets, parks and waterways
each year, with residents encouraged
to make a difference by pitching
in gather and bag the rubbish from 8am
to 1pm on Clean Up Day, with Council
collecting the mess.
Local school students will contribute
with their own collections on Friday 3
March.
In 2016, more than 682,000 volunteers
removed an estimated 14,000 tonnes of
rubbish from 6,890 sites across Australia.
It’s not too late to join a collection
team – go to cleanupaustraliaday.org.au
6
MARCH 2017