Feral rabbits are drawing predators such as coyotes and cougars into the town, Canmore officials and residents …Bunny lovers are gearing up to oppose the prospect of a load of Elmer Fund wannabes hunting feral rabbits in Canmore, Alta.
The Rocky Mountain tourist town, located just outside the entrance to Banff National Park, has been dealing with a growing population of rabbits for years. They're the offspring of pet bunnies released in the 1990s that proceeded to do what rabbits do.
Town officials estimate the rabbit population at about 2,000, according to a report by The Canadian Press. That's one rabbit for every three residents.
Concerned the rabbits are attracting potentially dangerous predators such as coyotes to the town, and over damage caused to gardens, civic leaders have amended bylaws to allow bunnies to be hunted within town limits. They've also hired a professional trapper to capture and gas them.
The strategy has sparked an angry reaction from bunny-lovers worldwide.
A web site called Canmore Resident Plan is calling for a tourist boycott of the visitor-dependent town.
"You have to take some of it seriously because obviously you will lose some people. There's no doubt about it,'' Mayor Ron Casey said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
"But at the same time you can't let a percentage drop in tourism influence you from doing the right thing.''
An Alberta judge last week rejected a last-minute application by an Edmonton resident to stop the cull, said the National Post.
Canmore is the third Western Canadian community to face resistance to a rabbit-reduction program.
Kelowna, B.C., was force to modify its cull plans in 2008, suspending the use of air rifles to kill feral rabbits and hiring a trapper to catch the animals and try to find homes for them. Those who couldn't be placed would be humanely killed, the CBC reported at the time.
The University of Victoria, struggling with an estimated 1,500 rabbits burrowing on campus grounds, last year launched a program to trap and kill many of them after attempts to trap and sterilize them proved to costly, the CBC said.
For animal-welfare activist Susan Vickery, the Canmore cull is history repeating itself. The "rabbit lady" of Coombs, B.C., runs a sanctuary that's hope to 600 of UVic's bunnies. She's soliciting donations through the Save Canmore Bunnies campaign.
"I haven't given up hope yet," Vickery told the Post. "The town still stands with its offer to release the rabbits to us, if we can provide a sanctuary for them. What is barring our progress right now is a lack of donations and a lack of community support."
(CBC Photo)
Watch more of Mayor Casey's interview with the Canadian Press:
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