Alex Trelinski
EMERGENCY rights to hunt wild rabbits in the Murcia region have been approved as citrus crops get ravaged by the animal.
An order affecting 15 municipalities- including San Javier, Fortuna, Molina de Segura and Jumilla- has been issued.
The Environment Ministry said that ‘crop damage has to be stopped, given the difficulty of controlling rabbit populations with the usual methods’.
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In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Murcia region saw a temporary fall in wild rabbit numbers.
But last year, the species rebounded with permission given to hunt rabbits under ‘hunting emergency’ laws.
Losses of citrus fruit crops can be as much as 40% with the rabbit feeding on the lower leaves and branches of fruit trees.
If it destroys the shoots of lemon, orange, or mandarin trees that are up to a metre high, the damage means there’s no harvest for two years.
If a rabbit attacks the trunk, the tree has to be uprooted because the damage stops sap from circulating and damages it.
Farmers- already dealing with the drought- have had to uproot entire citrus plantations in areas like Molina de Segura due to rabbit damage.
Similar issues have occurred with cereals and vegetable fields.
Uprooting a tree brings long-term consequences as it takes a year to oxygenate the land before planting again.
A farmer’s union spokesperson said that protective netting and repellents do not work against rabbits and backed hunters being given the power to use higher calibre weapons.
