RABBITS have been identified as a major problem in the overgrazing of Dales pastures.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority wants around £100,000 to tackle the problem, and local farmers have spoken out about the problems caused by the wild animals.

Plant life in the Dales has suffered in recent years, and the national park has blamed this on a number of things.

National park ecologist, Dr Tim Thom, said: "There are many factors responsible for the decline of biodiversity in the national park, including changes in livestock management, a decline in mixed farming systems, drainage of wet areas, visitor pressure and the impact of rabbits."

Now the park authority has launched a biodiversity action plan, and among the problems to be tackled are rabbits.

Dr Thom explained: "Rabbit control is an important action for biodiversity conservation requiring funds in the order of £100,000 over the next few years.

"It is, however, the responsibility of all those involved in land management, whether they be conservationists or farmers, to work together to control rabbit number in the park, not just one individual or organisation."

Farmers agree that rabbits are a big problem. Nine rabbits can munch their way through as much grass as one ewe, it is claimed.

It is over 30 years since the killer disease myxomatosis was introduced to try to keep the rabbit population in check.

However it has been noticed that the number of rabbits affected by the disease has been declining and there are opinions that they are now either immune to it or surviving it.

Edgar Darwin, who farms at Grassington, told the Herald: "Last year some of our land was ungrazed from February to June.

"When we took some sheep up in the middle of June I expected to see acres of waving grass, bearing in mind it was one of the best growing seasons I can remember, but it was like somebody's lawn. Nothing else had eaten it but the rabbits.

"Rabbits are increasing all the time. We go round every year and gas as many as we can and I shoot them on a regular basis, but it never seems to make any difference, they soon come in from elsewhere."

And the problem is one that will never be solved unless there is a virtually national effort, said Mr Darwin.

"No individual farmer can solve it. As soon as you get rid of your own, which is a pretty near impossible task, they come in from next door. It needs a united effort from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, or even higher up. It would have to be a great massive collective effort."

Dr Thom said that rabbit control formed part of the conditions which farmers accepted when they were awarded grants from the national park. Some of these grants are designed to help farmers to reduce the number of sheep on the land, and to give them financial assistance.

He added that it was hoped that more money for rabbit control would be included in European grants. "I can reassure people that there will be measures taken to reduce the rabbit population. It is how we go about doing it that we are not certain of yet," said Dr Thom.

He added that in the pre-myxomatosis days, there were local rabbit control societies made up of landowners, farmers, professional rabbiters and so on, and they dealt with the problem. However, as myxomatosis took hold, these societies folded.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.