13. This Plan to Introduce New Game Species to Virgin Territory Backfired Spectacularly
Few ideas were as harebrained as that time the British introduced hares and rabbits to Australia, and deliberately released them into the wild to breed like, well… rabbits and hares. In hindsight, and with what we now know about the harmful effects of messing with local environments and ecologies, it seems incredible that the British deliberately released rabbits into the Australian Outback. Equally or even more incredible is the train of logic that got them there. Rabbits were intended as a food source, which was shortsighted but understandable, and as prey to hunt for fun, which was bonkers.
Australia was initially seen by the British as a convenient dumping ground for convicts. For generations, the American Colonies had served that role, but that ended when America gained its independence. Understandably, the new republic did not want to accept more shiploads of jailbirds. So the British began to transport their convicts to Australia, which had been recently explored by Captain Cook. Ever eager to economize, the British authorities shipped rabbits along with the convicts, as a rapidly breeding food source. Eventually, some rich settlers released rabbits and hares into the wild so they could hunt them for sport. As seen below, the results were disastrous.
