30/05/2026
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Mass Migration
When Dutch explorers first discovered Australia in 1606, there were no rabbits to be found throughout the continent. That all changed in 1859, when an English settler, Thomas Austin, released 24 rabbits on his property near Melbourne, Australia.
While living in England, Austin loved hunting rabbits for sport. At the time, he thought the introduction of a few rabbits could do little harm and might provide a touch of home. As we know, rabbits are extremely prolific creatures. And with Australia's mild winters, Austin's rabbits were able to breed year-round. Along with plentiful vegetation, this provided the perfect conditions for a rabbit population explosion.
Within ten years of their introduction, rabbits had become so prevalent that two million could be shot or trapped annually without making a noteworthy dent in their numbers. It was the fastest spread ever recorded in history of any mammal anywhere in the world. In a desperate attempt to halt the spread of rabbits to Western Australia, the country built what they hoped would be a Rabbit-Proof Fence.
Beginning in 1901, the fence took six years to build. When completed in 1907, it was the longest fence in the world, stretching more than 2,000 miles from north to south. But the fence did not stop the rabbits from migrating westward. The rabbits tunneled their way under eroded sections of the fence, jumped through holes in the damaged wire, and other times they simply hopped through gates that were accidentally left open. Today, rabbits are entrenched in Australia and number in the hundreds of millions.
Did you know the Bible speaks of an unstoppable population explosion and mass migration? The Bible says when the children of Israel entered Egypt, there were 70 people. When they left during the Exodus 215 years later, there were 603,550 males aged between 20 and 60. If you do the math, there must have been around 2 to 2.5 million Israelites!
"The children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.... But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew" (Exodus 1:7, 12).
This is from “The All-New book of amazing facts volume 1 featuring 101 facts from nature, science culture, history and more! Compiled by Doug Batchelor amazing facts, page 34-35
