Kelowna seeking help with its bunny bonanza
Pets released to fend for themselves doing a bit too well

Frank Luba
The Province

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Bunnies have become a big bother in Kelowna.

Unlike the "wascally wabbit" immortalized in Bugs Bunny cartoons, the Okanagan variety are primarily pets that have been released into the wild.

They've been doing what comes naturally -- eating, defecating and reproducing.

The situation is serious enough to warrant a report to Kelowna's city council, which voted on Monday to pass the problem on to the Central Okanagan Regional District.

Kelowna pays the district for animal control, mainly dealing with dogs, but now wants that responsibility expanded to the rapidly reproductive rodents and other wildlife that cause complaints.

Among the options are bylaws to prevent people from feeding the rabbits, prohibiting the sale of unsterilized rabbits, trapping and sterilizing the rabbits and, the final solution, culling them.

Killing the bunnies is unacceptable to Sinikka Crosland of The Responsible Animal Care Society.

"People love bunnies," said Crosland. "They're wonderful. Why cull them if there's a humane choice?"

The humane choice is to trap the rabbits and sterilize them, at $40-$60 per animal, Crosland said.

"It's a huge project."

A biologist who studied the problem for the city saw about 30 rabbits in the Enterprise area last February. The number had grown to 650 by June and even higher by late summer.

Hotels and motels are unhappy their landscaping is being chewed up. Residents say their gardens are being eaten and their yards are littered with rabbit refuse.