Attempts to poison out-of-control rabbits in the ACT could put the final nail in the coffin of Canberra's vulnerable little eagle, which feed on them.
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Researchers have noted a decline in little eagles, from only four young birds bred in four territories around Canberra in 2008, to just a single breeding pair this season, discovered at Central Molonglo west of the city, by Canberra Ornithologists Group president Chris Davey.
Soaring rabbit numbers in the ACT are causing erosion, weeds spreading and threatening survival of native birds, small mammals and insects that rely on ground cover plants for food and shelter, according to the government.
A key in the government's $500,000 rabbit control is pindone poison which clots the blood, causing death by internal haemorrhaging. Its advantage, especially where dogs illegally roam in nature parks, is an antidote in case of accidental poisoning.
A government ecologist Don Fletcher said controlling rabbits while safeguarding other animals was a dilemma.
''It's not a case of splashing the countryside with pindone.''
The University of Canberra's Institute for Applied Ecology's 2010 annual report says higher doses of pindone are fatal to raptors, or disables them which can be fatal if the bird can't forage or evade predators.
''If rabbit control measures are affecting ACT raptors, little eagles may die more often than wedge-tailed eagles, because the little eagle takes proportionately more rabbits.
''Our research is still in progress.''
A government spokesman said no clear scientific evidence linked the decline of little eagles with pindone in rabbit control, nor had the poison been detected in a little eagle carcass.
''While that cannot rule out pindone as a possible threat to little eagles, the ACT Government is consulting with other researchers in regard to the most likely causes of the decline of little eagles.''
Mr Davey said an ACT draft action plan for little eagles was unlikely to stem the decline.
''It needs more teeth. Given such low numbers we will push to have the little eagle upgraded from vulnerable to endangered.''
Prolific bird photographer Geoffrey Dabb has previously seen little eagle nests at Belconnen, Kambah and Fyshwick, but now they're scarce.
''The key would be to see a juvenile at the end of the nesting season, which is now,'' Mr Dabb said. ''It does look quite bad for them.''
In a report to the government on rabbit control in Canberra nature parks early last year former CSIRO sustainable ecosystems principal research scientist Kent Williams said control was inconsistent.
Of the 38 Canberra nature parks, strategic rabbit control had been implemented on only six, because of resourcing inadequacies.
His report says strategic funding is much cheaper than inconsistent funding and gives the best conservation outcome.
