Robert Bruce, 1867 "> An 1867 engraving shows the Duke of Edinburgh shooting rabbits on Thomas Austin's Barwon Park estate, where rabbits were first successfully introduced. Credit: Robert Bruce, 1867

The 19th-century pastoralist Thomas Austin was homesick. He yearned for the pastimes of his home in England—especially rabbit hunting. He asked his family to send him some rabbits.

On Christmas Day in 1859, around two dozen wild and domestic rabbits arrived in Australia.

Delighted, Austin released them on his Barwon Park estate near Geelong. A member of the Acclimatisation Society of Victoria , Austin was among many working to bring European animal species to Australia. Of his efforts, he would later write : "The introduction of a few rabbits could do little harm and might provide a touch of home, in addition to a spot of hunting."

Domestic rabbits first came to Australia with the First Fleet.…