A fresh team of hunters are heading to Macquarie Island to follow up on a mass baiting program designed to kill every last rabbit on the World Heritage listed island.

Macquarie Island had been nicknamed the "green" island, but that was before exploding numbers of rabbits started making a meal of its fragile vegetation.

The few rabbits that were brought to the islands by sealers in the 1800s had bred up to a population of more than 100,000.

Last year a pest eradication project started, with helicopters dropping poisonous bait all over the island.

Peter Preston, the eradication team leader on the island, says only 13 rabbits have been found since the baiting finished last year.

"We haven't killed any rabbits since November but it's still quite probable there's one or two here, obviously tucked away very discreetly," he said.

"As long as those two don't get together and start breeding, or however many is left, then it's looking good for the future.

"Rabbits down here from the scientific work can live up to three years in the wild, so we've still got a way to go before we can say that they're not here anymore."

The only evidence that the rabbits are still breeding on Macquarie surfaced in November when a lactating doe was found with four rabbit kittens.

The remaining rabbits are being sniffed out by specially trained dogs and tracked by hunters.

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It is a gruelling six-day-a-week job where the hunters spend eight hours or more walking through all kinds of weather.

Claudia Babirat is one of the hunters climbing the island's steep slopes in search of the rabbit.

"When you're out in the field it's blowing, it's raining and just the initial step of going out from a nice warm cosy hut out into the elements for eight hours a day, it can seem a bit daunting," she said.

"But when you're out there it's actually quite beautiful, it's a spectacular place to work. Along the coast you see amazing wildlife - elephant seals, penguins and it's a constant reminder why we're doing what we're doing and we really want that.

"I think pretty much every one of us is really compassionate about conservation, so we really want to make a difference, we really want to help the island, so it's great that the rabbit numbers are down to these low levels."

Mr Preston says that without rabbits the island's lush green vegetation is making a comeback.

"The vegetation's responded amazingly," he said.

"There were areas in winter where we could walk through and the Macquarie Island cabbage was only up to your ankle deep. Now it's up over waist deep.

"In fact the dogs actually disappear inside the cabbage when they're working in the cabbage looking for rabbits."