The City of Albany will be continuing its rabbit control program this month, releasing calicivirus and myxomatosis to locations around the city to control the growth of the feral rabbit population.

The viruses, which are an integral part of methods to curb wild rabbit population growth, are specific to rabbits and hares.

They do not pose any risk to humans, native wildlife or other domestic animals.

Any Albany residents who own a pet rabbit should make sure their pet is vaccinated against both viruses by a veterinarian.

Spring is an especially important time for population control, as the start of the season is generally when rabbits breed the most, and the city will release the viruses at more than 40 pre-determined sites around the local government area.

According to PestSmart, European rabbits are a threat to 322 threatened native species and if not controlled, one breeding pair of rabbits can become 184 rabbits in a span of 18 months.

Before the introduction of myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease, which is a strain of the calicivirus, feral rabbits were a huge problem in WA, particularly in regional areas where they damaged soils and native plants, reduced stock productivity, and threatened native mammals by competing with them directly for food.

The biological control of the diseases has greatly reduced rabbit densities around Australia, but if left unchecked they can still cause severe damage.

Historically, managing rabbit populations has been most important for protecting agricultural production in crops and livestock grazing, but recently the importance of natural resource management and protection has been recognised more widely, so rabbits are targeted outside of rural areas.