“Star Trek” is filled with alien races: Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, Borgs and…tribbles? Famous for his appearance in the aptly titled episode “The Trouble with Tribbles”, these non-intelligent creatures appear as small balls of fur, with no visible eyes, limbs, or mouth. However, they make noise (purring when they are happy, screaming when they are not) and eat like savages. When they eat, they reproduce exponentially. This is where there is a problem with the tribbles, which threaten to overtake the deep space station K7.
Tribbles was inspired by a cute real animal famous for its rapid reproduction: rabbits. “F*** like bunnies” is the phrase we use to describe any couple in a honeymoon mood, because bunnies TO DO reproduce quite quickly. Rabbit mothers’ pregnancies only last about a month, so they can produce several litters each year. This means that once rabbits enter a habitat, it can be difficult to get rid of them; Australia has considered rabbits an invasive species for around 150 years..
Speaking in a 2016 interview with Mass appeal“The Trouble with Tribbles” writer David Gerrold explained that he wanted to show that, just like rabbits in Australia, a dangerous species can appear harmless:
“I thought that not every alien we encounter is going to be ugly, and not every alien we encounter is going to be immediately dangerous. We’re not going to recognize danger to ourselves until it’s too late. So the rabbits of Australia were perfect. Little fluffy creatures that are fun to pet and purr, but breed like crazy. Next thing you know, Captain Kirk is here in them.”
Star Trek’s tribbles were inspired by the rabbit invasion of Australia
European rabbits were introduced to Australia by settlers in 1788, but academic research has shown the booming population dates back to 24 rabbits introduced in 1859. Current estimates put the wild rabbit population in Australia at 200 million individuals.
Australia has a reputation for having bizarre, sometimes dangerous animals. The continent is home to various venomous creatures, large flightless birds, and saltwater crocodiles that can grow larger than many sharks. At first glance, rabbits look more like the cuddlier Australian animals, like koalas, wombats and wallabies (mini kangaroos, basically). As rabbits are not native to Australia, they disrupt the ecological balance. like any invasive species. Rabbits are particularly notorious for causing damage to crops and soils in Australia due to overeating. Likewise, some areas of the country use extensive rabbit-proof fencing to keep animals out. The Australian state of Queensland has also banned rabbits as pets.
Maybe Australia should ask the Klingons for advice on pest extermination. “The Trouble with Tribbles” shows that the tribbles react badly to the Klingons and that the feeling is mutual; a Klingon spy posing as a Federation officer, Arne Darvin (Charlie Brill) is exposed when a tribble shouts at him.
“The Trouble with Tribbles” remains one of the most famous episodes of “Star Trek”. When the franchise’s 30th anniversary rolled around in 1996, the “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” team even had its lead actors literally revisit the episode via time travel in “Trials and Tribble-ations.” In this episode, Worf (Michael Dorn) reveals that the Klingons destroyed the tribbles’ homeworld to eradicate the parasites, but this effort is undone when the DS9 team takes some tribbles back to the 24th century, where they begin to breed. Like rabbits, tribbles are problematic because they are very difficult to eliminate.
