Globe: Bunny boom bugs Victoria campus
Dave Shishkoff
An Freedom of Information request I submitted confirmed that UVic does not kill the rabbits, nor do they contract anyone else to.. This could change, so we need to remain vigilant. Note that 1,000 dead or injured rabbits are picked up each year…this isn’t a safe place for them either, perhaps something needs to be done to address this as well.
- Dave
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080324.wbcbunnies24/BNStory/National/home
Bunny boom bugs Victoria campus
Students upset to hear university is considering a cull of rabbit population that is wreaking havoc on its gardens and sports fields
JUSTINE HUNTER
From Monday's Globe and Mail
March 24, 2008 at 5:10 AM EDT
VICTORIA — A pair of baby bunnies sat next to a busy sidewalk on the University of Victoria campus, soaking up some sunshine. With their big, bright eyes and fluffy black-and-white coats, they attracted admirers who debated whether to try to scoop one up for a cuddle.
"You can't say 'kill the wabbit' - they are too cute," student Sarah Hughes scolded a nearby reporter caught quoting a line from Warner Bros.
"They make me happy. You'll hear students arguing about the bunnies' names - they are a part of the campus."
The bunnies are part of a large and growing population living and breeding on the 140-hectare campus. They're collectively regarded as UVIC's mascot.
There's no official count, but their numbers are estimated in the thousands.
Ms. Hughes, a third-year writing student, is upset to hear the university's administrators are looking at population control.
Cuteness notwithstanding, the rabbits are destroying the campus gardens, trashing the sports fields and playing havoc with construction projects.
Since last fall, in the face of complaints from neighbours, the university's administration has been studying the issue. Meanwhile, spring has come and as the abundance of baby bunnies at the campus last week highlights, the problem isn't going away by itself.
And the Easter holiday won't help.
Every year, people pick up pet bunnies for the holiday, then dump the creatures at the university when they discover they are more work to keep than a cat and less cuddly.
"Most of them are dead within 48 hours," said Penny Stone, branch manager of the Victoria Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "People think they are setting them free and they'll be able to run around with their new bunny friends. In fact, they'll be viciously attacked by the other rabbits. Or they become food."
Neil Connelly, UVIC's director of campus planning, acknowledged that a bunny cull would be as popular on campus as a baby seal hunt.
There was a huge outcry four years ago when the campus newspaper, the Martlet, reported a graduate student was killing rabbits for food.
Mr. Connelly agreed that a cull is being considered, but stressed it is just one option.
One alternative is to try to capture, then spay or neuter the rabbits. It's the route favoured by the SPCA and is currently being attempted in Kelowna.
They may try to sterilize the rabbits using drugs hidden in rabbit food.
Or there is the "capture and separate" scheme. Mr. Connelly explained: "You put them in separate fenced areas, the males in one and the females in the other, and let them live out their natural lives." He paused, then added: "I'm not sure how realistic that one is."
As he spoke, another baby bunny sat in the centre of some heather near his feet, the picture of sweetness as it chomped on the new blossoms.
A decision on the UVIC bunnies' fate is expected this spring.
He said the university still doesn't know how many rabbits there are, but every week, maintenance crews clean up a dozen dead ones, while the SPCA picks up another five injured rabbits. That adds up to almost 1,000 dead and injured rabbits each year.
The rabbits like to burrow in the soft sand used as a base for the campus athletic fields, while the university's prized rhododendron collection at Finnerty Gardens is now behind an ugly, costly fence that clearly doesn't live up to its "rabbit-proof" billing.
"We need to get a handle on the population," said Mr. Connelly, "and how many is too many."
Many can add up to too many quickly. A female rabbit can bear a litter about every six weeks.
Victoria General Hospital has wrestled with a similar problem. Rabbits dumped off on the hospital's grounds quickly multiplied and were deemed a health hazard.
In 1999, the Vancouver Island Health Authority authorized a cull, which is repeated as necessary.
But sensitive to the poor optics of killing bunnies, a spokeswoman refused to say how many are killed, or how.
"We continuously monitor the rabbit population at VGH," said Shannon Marshall, "and when it's necessary we take steps to control the population and it's done humanely with a strategic cull."
The one thing the university's rabbit committee has decided is the need for an education campaign - it is a university, after all. It will try to discourage people from abandoning their pets, and urge people not to feed the rabbits.