Enjoy the rabbits, but don’t feed, touch or harass them
Sure they’re cute, but they’re not pets. They’re wildlife.
This is the main message behind a public awareness campaign being launched by the University of Victoria. The goal is to change the way people view and interact with feral rabbits on campus.
“Rabbits will have a continued presence on the UVic campus, but the status quo is not an option,” says Neil Connelly, UVic’s director of campus planning and sustainability. “The university is developing a long-term rabbit management plan that is based on a significant shift in how we behave around them.”
UVic is well known for its feral rabbits, which are pets or descendants of pets abandoned on campus by members of the community. Although many people on and off-campus enjoy the presence of the rabbits, their activities can have a significant impact on human health and safety (the risk of catastrophic injury to athletes from rabbit holes, for example, or disease spread by rabbit feces), and on plants and property.
The public awareness campaign is aimed at eliminating further abandonment of unwanted pet rabbits, reducing human-provided food sources for rabbits, and preventing harassment of and cruelty to rabbits.
“Feeding the rabbits helps push their numbers toward an unmanageable level, and the leftovers are creating a ready food source for a growing rat population. Feeding rabbits also increases the risk of rabbit bites and the tetanus that could result. Like other wildlife, rabbits must forage for their food to survive,” says Connelly.
The awareness campaign also cautions people to not chase, handle or pet the rabbits, and reminds dog owners that their pets are to be kept on leash and under control at all times when on campus. As wildlife, feral rabbits are protected by federal and provincial legislation from acts of harassment and cruelty.
Since late 2007 the university has been gathering information on rabbit-related damage and safety concerns, on the significance of rabbits to UVic’s sense of community and external image, and on feral animal management issues in other jurisdictions. The university has also consulted with on-campus groups, residents associations, community organizations and local municipalities.
The process included initiating ongoing surveys of the size and distribution of the feral rabbit population in specific areas of campus.
“By understanding the population densities we’ll be able to explore a number of non-lethal control methods, such as vegetation modifications, to try to manage rabbit activities in key areas such as the athletic fields. These methods will be investigated in the coming months, in consultation with internal and external stakeholder groups and volunteers. The public awareness campaign is the first step.”
Connelly stresses that the university is not in a position to make a significant financial contribution to this issue. “The university cannot justify diverting substantial funding from its educational mission to deal with what is, in reality, a community-wide issue.”
For more information, visit www.uvic.ca/rabbits.
Please
- Don’t abandon your pet rabbit on campus
- Don’t pet or feed the rabbits
- Don’t chase, harass or handle the rabbits