No. There are no provisions under the Act to allow keeping domestic rabbits as pets in Queensland.

No. There are no provisions under the Act to allow rabbit farming in Queensland.

Queensland is the only state to keep an area free of rabbits by maintaining a rabbit-proof fence and controlling rabbit populations in the area. Allowing rabbits to be kept within the area protected by the fence may endanger this rabbit-free status.

Keeping rabbits as pets and farm animals in other states can cause problems with biological control agents such as rabbit calicivirus disease which is used to control wild rabbits.

Rabbits are Australia's most destructive agricultural and environmental introduced animal pest, costing between $600 million and $1 billion annually. They cause severe land degradation and soil erosion and threaten the survival of many rare and endangered species of native wildlife. For this reason, keeping rabbits as pets is strongly opposed by many rural landholders and conservationists.

Do not release it in the wild. You can:

• surrender it to your local government office
• surrender it to your local Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry office
• dispose of it in a legal and humane way
• contact the Darling Downs-Moreton Rabbit Board to arrange for it to be collected. Ph: +61 7 4661 4076.

Your local government is responsible for ensuring that landholders control declared pests.

If you live in the area of South East Queensland that is protected by the rabbit-proof fence, contact the Darling Downs-Moreton Rabbit Board, Ph: +61 7 4661 4076.

• Biosecurity Queensland, Ph: 13 25 23
• Rabbits