Mammals
Rabbits & Hares
Sighting 3394564

Lepus capensis

2 Brown Hare at Watson, ACT

Lepus capensis at Watson, ACT - 10 Apr 2018 12:03 PM
Lepus capensis at Watson, ACT - 10 Apr 2018 12:03 PM
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Identification history

Lepus capensis 11 Apr 2018 ChrisM
Lepus capensis 10 Apr 2018 wombey
Unverified 10 Apr 2018 waltraud

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User's notes

Fresh dead, no signs of wounds; possibly killed by Calici virus. I found a dead rabbit which was calici positive about 100m further north in winter 2016.

2 comments

waltraud wrote:
   3 May 2018
Robyn Hall CSIRO confirmed the hare tested positive for RHDV2, most likely the recombinant variant reported here (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29226567 / https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/08/09/173930). Further testing will be conducted to confirm this.
Robyn wrote:

...the rabbit caliciviruses used for biocontrol purposes in Australia (RHDV1 and RHDVa-K5) are specific for European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). However, the RHDV2 virus can also infect a number of hare species, including the European brown hare found in Australia.
So far, we have detected a limited number of hares (<10) infected with RHDV2 in Australia, although none previously from the ACT. However, we only rarely receive hare samples. The extent of RHDV2 infection in Australian hare populations is currently unknown. Hares are considered a pest animal in Australia.
The recombinant strain refers to a virus with the outer shell of RHDV2 and the inner virus machinery of an RHDVa virus. Because this virus has the outer shell of RHDV2 it behaves in very much the same way i.e. it can infect hares and young rabbit kittens whereas RHDV1 and RHDVa viruses can’t. This variant was first detected in NSW in 2016 and has since been detected in a number of rabbits and hares in NSW, the ACT, and Victoria (one case). It continues to be dominant in the local Canberra, Yass, Michelago, Carwoola area.
waltraud wrote:
   11 May 2018
CSIRO has completed further testing and can confirm this is the recombinant RHDV2 virus form as described in previous comment.
Waltraud 11 May 2018

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Location information

Sighting information

Species information

  • Lepus capensis Scientific name
  • Brown Hare Common name
  • Not Sensitive
  • Exotic
  • Non-invasive or negligible
  • Up to 774.8m Recorded at altitude
  • 46 images trained Machine learning

  • Synonyms

    Lepus europaeus
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