HC Deb 25 July 1990 vol 177 c254W
Mr. Ron Davies

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the annual cost to(a) farming and (b) forestry of damage caused by wild rabbits; and what is his estimate of their current numbers.

Mr. Maclean

Damage from wild rabbits to agriculture and horticulture in the United Kingdom is estimated to cost £100 million to £150 million annually. I do not have any information on the costs to forestry.

National surveys between 1980 and 1986 showed a steady increase in the population of rabbits particularly in eastern and south-eastern areas. They are now estimated to number 30 million, about one third the level which existed before the arrival of myxomatosis.

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