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A new report from city staff in Nanaimo, B.C., says some parks are overrun with feral rabbits — leading to extensive and costly damage to fields and infrastructure.
The report, presented at council Monday night, says the population of feral rabbits now outnumbers what it was nearly 10 years ago, before rabbit hemorrhagic disease wiped out 85 per cent of the fluffy critters.
“These rabbits live in burrows and have been found in sports fields, road shoulders, around and under buildings and other infrastructures,” notes the report.
“Rabbit activity damages infrastructure including facilities and sports fields resulting in costly repairs, safety hazards and increased liability issues.”
Since May, the report says, the city has had to assign one full-time labourer to fill rabbit holes on playing fields at Beban Park, the Stadium District and the Track and Field Club area, in order to prevent injuries.
Feral rabbits can also attract apex predators into parks, the report says, and can lead to biodiversity loss and habitat degradation. Most recently, the report says, rabbits on the tracks caused two crashes at a local BMX park.
Cougar, coyote urine as strategy
Staff told councillors at the meeting that the city’s primary strategies for mitigating the damage are placing cougar and coyote urine around key infrastructure and placing poles to attract raptors.
But it appears some residents may be wondering if the city would implement any other strategies to contain the population explosion — the report says one pair of rabbits can lead to 184 rabbits in just 18 months.
Before the staff presentation, Mayor Leonard Krog emphasized that the report was only to update council and not to present other solutions for managing the city’s feral rabbits.
Krog, staff and Coun. Hilary Eastmure noted that the report on the agenda caused several individuals and animal rights groups to reach out, wondering what the outcome would be.
The feral rabbit population in Nanaimo was decimated when a deadly virus wiped most of them out in 2018. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
“I do not expect nor will I welcome any motions on the report tonight,” Krog said at the meeting.
“This is a chance to update council and bring us the most current information on this situation, which is a growing problem, and that’s it.”
Eastmure said some people responded to one of her social media posts by suggesting the animals be used as a source of food.
Staff didn’t deny the possibility, but said for now they are monitoring the situation and the limited management practices that are already in place.
Virus could be returning: province
In October, the province warned that rabbit hemorrhagic disease might be making a comeback on the island, and urged rabbit owners to take precautions.
“Symptoms can include fever, lethargy, respiratory distress, bleeding from the nose or mouth or sudden death,” the province said, adding that the disease doesn’t pose a risk to people or other animals.
Vaccines are available for domestic rabbits.