03/30/2021
Cute, adorable, fluffy – and potentially tragic?
We are asking people this spring – and all year long -- to avoid releasing domestic rabbits into the wild.
Most folks would never do that, but still many bunnies are released, or escape, each year, particularly in the spring following Easter.
To name a few of the reasons it’s a bad idea to release domestic bunnies in the wild:
Released bunnies aren’t free– they are food. Chances are very good that domestic rabbits will be killed by a predator or starve, which makes it cruel to release them.
. . if they survive, they may REALLY THRIVE, establishing feral populations and causing risks for agriculture and competition with native wildlife species.
Finally, there is rabbit hemorrhagic disease, a domestic rabbit malady with potential for spreading to wild rabbits, pet domestic rabbits, and commercial rabbitries, threatening some of the cutest small critters on Earth.
For all these reasons and more, please never release domestic rabbits in the wild.
Photo: compliments WSU
More information:
https://news.wsu.edu/2021/03/31/wsu-veterinarians-dont-buy-rabbit-easter/ #:~:text=Days%20after%20Idaho%20documented%20its,bunnies%20out%20of%20Easter%20baskets.
https://wastatedeptag.blogspot.com/2021/03/think-twice-before-giving-bunnies-or.html
https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/article_c9ad2f46-8c03-11eb-99c5-fb0e2f91626b.html
https://rabbit.org/category/easter/
