Red Card for Rabbits and Foxes celebrates its 20th anniversary this year! Instigated by two landcare groups in 2004, it has grown to cover the South West Agricultural Land Division of Western Australia from north of Geraldton out to Esperance. In the last ten years alone, nearly 10,000 people have participated, culling almost 40,000 foxes, over 2000 feral cats, and just over 24,000 rabbits.
The number of foxes culled has saved the agricultural industry $156 thousand and spared the lives of 80,503 native animals. The rabbits culled have saved the agricultural industry a staggering $9.65 million, and whilst the number of animals saved is unable to be quantified, rabbits pose a threat to 322 threatened Australian native species, including plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, invertebrates, and fish. The feral cats culled have saved the agricultural industry in Western Australia $31 thousand, and saved at least 283, 556 native animals.
Red Card has raised significant funds for the Regional Men’s Health Initiative (RMHI), through the generous donation scheme sponsored by The Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia, Western Australia (SSAAWA). For every feral cat and fox culled, they donate $5 capped at $20 thousand to RMHI. Including this year’s figures, that is a donation of over $130 thousand by the SSAAWA, which has had a positive impact on RMHI.
Further information on Red Card for Rabbits and Foxes can be found on the website, www.redcard.org.au or the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/RedCardRF .
See table below!
Year |
Number of events held |
Number of community groups |
Number of People |
Number of foxes culled |
Number of cats culled |
|
Number of rabbits culled |
2014 |
36 |
36 |
933 |
4538 |
313 |
|
4842 |
2015 |
30 |
28 |
1087 |
4196 |
219 |
|
2687 |
2016 |
29 |
26 |
435 |
1557 |
61 |
8090 |
760 |
2017 |
39 |
34 |
814 |
2428 |
150 |
12890 |
590 |
2018 |
50 |
28 |
1071 |
4398 |
394 |
20000 |
4633 |
2019 |
34 |
31 |
1125 |
4347 |
186 |
20000 |
1315 |
2020 |
43 |
32 |
995 |
3720 |
182 |
20,000 |
2615 |
2021 |
29 |
27 |
1131 |
3635 |
183 |
19090 |
2372 |
2022 |
26 |
18 |
678 |
2571 |
169 |
|
1523 |
2023 |
27 |
26 |
854 |
3657 |
262 |
19595 |
1233 |
2024 |
32 |
20 |
632 |
2806 |
223 |
15160 |
1784 |
Total |
375 |
306 |
9755 |
37853 |
2342 |
|
24354 |
Calculated impact of Red Card program over the past 10 years |
Foxes |
Rabbits |
Cats |
Agriculture |
$155,652.34 |
$9,650,159.08 |
$31,328,982.09 |
Native animals saved |
80,503 |
Unable to quantify |
283,556 |