Europeans had introduced rabbits to Australia at the end of the 18th century, whereupon the fuzzy critters started breeding like, well, y’know. A century later, they had become a serious problem for both the nation’s wildlife and its farmers. Perhaps a disease could control the bunny blight?

In 1950, after some resistance and much cajoling, government scientists finally released myxoma-infected rabbits into the Murray Valley of southeastern Australia. That summer, the virus blazed brightly, but its spark appeared to peter out. Then, by year’s end, it rekindled into an almighty conflagration that swept through southern Australia, killing millions of rabbits. “Thus, inadvertently, began one of the great experiments in natural selection, conducted on a continental scale,” wrote Australian scientist Peter Kerr.

Read the full article at The Atlantic