Will rabbits become super predators?
CrowdScience
BBC
4.8 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 3 April 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Listener Bart in Australia sees invasive species in his area almost every day – rabbits, foxes, and cats. They were transplanted to Australia from Europe more than 100 years ago, but seem to be thriving in their new home.
This got him wondering: how are they going to evolve, now that they are in a new habitat? Can we predict what future evolution will look like based on what we already know?
To find out, Marnie Chesterton visits Sandy Ingelby at the Australian Museum, who manages the mammal collection. She shows Marnie how indigenous Australian animals have evolved to suit where they live.
On the island of Tasmania, Marnie meets the famous Tasmanian Devil and keeper Jono Thomas. Andy Flies from the University of Tasmania explains how the devil is evolving in real-time in response to a health crisis.
So what might the invasive species in Bart’s backyard look like over the next 100 years? We’ll find out, with a little bit of help from palaeontologist Matt McCurry and millions of murderous toads.
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producer: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins
Editor: Ben Motley
(Photo: Wild rabbit- stock photo Credit: John Porter via Getty Images)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.3 | Their company's success helped build a nation. |
| 0:10.9 | The company is such a big part of Korea's economy. |
| 0:13.5 | But who are the family behind one of the world's tech giants? |
| 0:17.2 | They often say, look, we built the nation. |
| 0:19.2 | And without us, South Korea as it exists today, |
| 0:22.6 | would simply not be here. Inheritance, Samsung explores the real-life dramas of the Lee family |
| 0:28.3 | and their company. They are the equivalent of royalty. Listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:34.4 | Is it much more fiscy one. |
| 0:38.3 | Okay, I will keep my fingers to myself. |
| 0:41.3 | Which basically I just need to, I'll probably place a bit of food in a couple of locations |
| 0:49.3 | just here. |
| 0:50.3 | Yeah. |
| 0:51.3 | When he comes over, he'll hopefully, you know, use his nose to smell out each location |
| 0:58.0 | and you'll get a chance to have a look at him. |
| 1:02.5 | This is Crowd Science from the BBC World Service. |
| 1:06.1 | I'm Marnie Chesterton and at Bonarong Wildlife Sanctuary in Australia, |
| 1:10.2 | it's feeding time for one of the country's |
| 1:12.4 | last top predators, the Tasmanian devil. You will notice he's a little bit unsteady on his back |
| 1:19.2 | legs. That's a situation that does occur with a lot of older devils. Okay. All right, here goes. |
| 1:26.9 | Good luck. |
| 1:30.0 | Just noticed that Jono's wearing some quite sturdy, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.