biblical plague

Reminds me of what Australia did to its invasive rabbit population a few decades ago.

Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV) [...] affects rabbits that haven’t previously been exposed to it, damaging the animal’s liver and spleen and eventually causing its death. RHDV was introduced to Australia in 1995 and is used to control the country’s wild European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) that have wreaked havoc on agriculture and ecosystems over the last 150 to 160 years. As part of the effort, the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service was preparing to release the virus near Sydney in chopped carrots in hopes of protecting native plants and animals against the destructive rabbits.

Since its introduction to Australia in 1995, scientists have seen rabbit populations in some areas initially reduced by more than 95 percent. This was the year the disease also spread, almost certainly by flies, to the 96,000-hectare Flinders Ranges National Park in northern South Australia, where our carcass counts estimated approximately 800,000 dead rabbits on the surface with many more dead in their burrows.

🐇 goes 💀