Thomas Austin and the Rabbits That Overran Australia
Published · Last updated
Last updated: November 2026.
Few people have changed a continent as much as Thomas Austin, and he did it for a weekend’s sport. In 1859, the Victorian landowner had a shipment of English rabbits released on his estate so he and his friends could hunt them. Within 50 years, their descendants had spread across almost all of Australia.
Quick answer: Thomas Austin (1815–1871) was an English-born pastoralist in Victoria, Australia. He imported 24 rabbits from England, which arrived on Christmas Day 1859, and released them on his Barwon Park estate near Winchelsea for hunting. A 2022 genetic study found that Australia’s feral rabbits descend from Austin’s rabbits. They became the country’s worst pest, and still cost Australian agriculture an estimated $200 million a year.
Timeline: how the rabbits took over
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1788 | The First Fleet brings rabbits to Australia, kept as food animals, not released |
| 1815 | Thomas Austin is born in Baltonsborough, Somerset, England |
| 1831 | Austin arrives in Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) |
| 1837 | Austin crosses to the Port Phillip District and takes up land near Winchelsea |
| October 6, 1859 | His brother William ships rabbits from Somerset on the Lightning |
| December 25, 1859 | 24 rabbits arrive in Melbourne and go to Barwon Park; at least 13 are released |
| 1866 | Hunters catch 14,000 rabbits at Barwon Park, seven years after the release |
| 1871 | Austin dies on December 15, months after finishing his mansion |
| 1880 | Rabbits cross the Murray River into New South Wales |
| 1886 | Rabbits reach Queensland |
| 1894 | Rabbits reach Western Australia |
| 1901–1907 | Western Australia builds a rabbit-proof fence 3,256 kilometers long |
| 1940s | An estimated 600 million rabbits live in Australia |
| 1950 | Myxomatosis is released and kills around 500 million rabbits |
| 1995 | Calicivirus (RHDV) escapes a test site on Wardang Island, South Australia |
| 2017 | A new strain, RHDV1 K5, is released at around 600 sites |
| 2022 | A genetic study in PNAS traces the invasion to Austin’s rabbits |
Who was Thomas Austin?
Thomas Austin was born in 1815 in Baltonsborough, Somerset. He came to Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) with his family in 1831, then crossed to the Port Phillip District, in what is now Victoria, with his brother James in 1837. He built up Barwon Park, a 29,000-acre run near Winchelsea used for sheep and horse training.
Austin belonged to the Acclimatisation Society of Victoria, which introduced English species to make the colony feel more like home. He also released hares, blackbirds and thrushes. (Acclimatization societies also shaped early zoos; see our history of zoos.) He married Elizabeth Phillips Harding in 1845, and they had 11 children.
Why did Thomas Austin bring rabbits to Australia?
For hunting. Austin wanted game for shooting parties on his estate, like the ones he knew in England. Words often attributed to him sum up the thinking: “The introduction of a few rabbits could do little harm and might provide a touch of home, in addition to a spot of hunting.”
Rabbits had been in Australia since 1788, but those were domestic animals kept for food. Austin’s brother William sent rabbits from their home village in Somerset, and the shipment arrived in Melbourne on Christmas Day 1859. Accounts differ on exactly how many were released, with the National Museum of Australia giving at least 13 and other sources 24.
How the rabbits spread
The rabbits found few predators, mild winters and plenty of grass. Seven years after the release, hunters caught 14,000 rabbits at Barwon Park. Rabbits crossed into New South Wales by 1880, Queensland by 1886 and Western Australia by 1894, spreading about 100 kilometers a year. That is the fastest spread ever recorded for an introduced mammal.
Other settlers released rabbits too, so for years scientists debated whether Austin was really to blame. In 2022, a team led by Joel Alves of Oxford and Francis Jiggins of Cambridge studied DNA from 187 rabbits collected between 1865 and 2018. They found that the invasion traces back to a single introduction from southwest England: Austin’s. Some of his rabbits were wild, and their wild traits, like a body shape better suited to heat, may have helped them thrive in Australia’s dry interior.
The damage
Rabbits strip pastures and crops, compete with sheep and cattle for grass, and cause erosion. The rabbit is suspected of being the biggest known factor in species loss in Australia. Today, the cost to agriculture is estimated at $200 million a year.
How Australia fought back
- Rewards: In 1887, New South Wales offered £25,000 for a way to wipe out rabbits.
- Fences: Western Australia built a rabbit-proof fence from 1901 to 1907, running 3,256 kilometers north to south. Rabbits got past it anyway.
- Myxomatosis: Released by CSIRO scientists in 1950, the virus killed around 500 million rabbits, cutting the population from an estimated 600 million. Survivors developed resistance.
- Calicivirus: Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus escaped from a quarantine site on Wardang Island in October 1995 and spread across the country by 1996. In 2017, authorities released a new strain, RHDV1 K5, at around 600 sites.
At least 150 million wild rabbits still live in Australia, according to the National Museum of Australia, and they are developing resistance to calicivirus too.
Austin’s other legacy
Austin died at Barwon Park on December 15, 1871. His widow, Elizabeth Austin, helped found the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg, Melbourne, which still carries the family name. Their Barwon Park mansion is now owned by the National Trust of Australia and is open to the public.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Thomas Austin? An English-born pastoralist (1815–1871) in Victoria, Australia, who released rabbits on his Barwon Park estate in 1859.
Why did Thomas Austin bring rabbits to Australia? To hunt them. He wanted game for shooting parties, like those he knew in England.
How many rabbits did Thomas Austin release? 24 rabbits arrived from England on Christmas Day 1859. The National Museum of Australia says at least 13 were released.
Were Austin’s rabbits really the start of the plague? Yes. A 2022 genetic study found that Australia’s invasive rabbits descend from that single introduction.
How many rabbits are in Australia today? At least 150 million, according to the National Museum of Australia. The peak was an estimated 600 million in the 1940s.
Is the Austin Hospital named after Thomas Austin? It is named for the Austin family. His widow, Elizabeth Austin, helped found it after his death.
Sources
- Rabbits introduced, National Museum of Australia
- DNA profiling solves Australian rabbit plague puzzle, University of Cambridge, August 2022
- A 19th century farmer may be to blame for Australia’s rabbit scourge, Science
- Thomas Austin (pastoralist)), Wikipedia
- Rabbits in Australia, Wikipedia
And then they name a hospital after him