Pygmy rabbits released back into wild

The Oregon Zoo will release a littler of Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits back into the wild.  The litter is a product of a pair of pygmy rabbits at the zoo.

The animals will be released to the Sagebrush Flat Wildlife Area in central Washington.  So far, 93 pygmy rabbits have been reintroduced into the area, including 39 babies from the Oregon zoo.

The animals became endangered in 2002. Experts say disease, inbreeding and loss of habitat wiped out much of the species.

To protect them from predators, encourage breeding and help them transition to their new surroundings, the rabbits are initially being kept in wire mesh enclosures in the wildlife area.

"We've taken extra steps to try to ensure that we don't lose these unique creatures. Every animal is important," said Kim Smith, Oregon Zoo director. "We're committed to conservation of many endangered species - large and small - and the fact is, these are the last Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits in existence."

The shy rabbits are dependent on sagebrush, which makes up the majority of their diet and grows in deep, loose soil in which the rabbits dig burrows. The rabbits have been edged out of their habitat as sagebrush steppe has been converted to agricultural land. Disease, wildfire and predation by raptors, coyotes and weasels also have contributed to the rabbit's decline.

Until this release, there were no Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits known to be left in the wild. Although there are other pygmy rabbits, including in Idaho, Oregon and Utah, the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit has been separated from the other populations for thousands of years and is genetically distinct.

From here.

Ping Pong baby bunny prize

To The Winner Goes ... a Bunny?

COLUMBUS -- You can win almost anything at the Franklin County Fair if you have enough luck, skill or money. However, some aren't comfortable with one of the prizes available to win.

At one booth if you can make a ping-pong ball into a glass saucer you can win a live baby bunny. The owners say it's no different than going to a pet store and buying one.

But, the Capital Area Humane Society cautions against making a life long commitment to a pet with the toss of a ping-pong ball.

See video from the source here.

Big rabbit kill, but warnings remain

The rabbit-killing virus RHD has this year in Otago taken its biggest toll on the animal in at least five years.

Its effectiveness during the past summer has puzzled the industry because the Otago Regional Council's two-yearly tests for the disease's presence in Otago show high levels of immunity to the virus.

Test results show the average immunity across the 10 sites was 68%, similar to 2009 levels, council regional services technical field adviser Don Robson says in a report to be presented to its regulatory committee tomorrow.

"Interpreting this year's serum results has been difficult, with most monitoring sites showing high immunity levels, yet the virus has been the most effective and widespread for many years."

The virus displayed its greatest activity in the Alexandra basin, Ida Valley, Upper Clutha and Strath Taieri.

"In fact, most of Otago appears to have received the benefits of good kills from the virus."

As well as good death rates, observations showed deaths due to the virus continued to occur longer than normal, which meant the antibodies were still present during testing - unlike in other years.

"This observation clearly indicates high immunity levels do not necessarily mean the virus is no longer effective.""Exceptional" conditions in Central Otago had seen grass growth throughout most of summer because of frequent rain, which meant more young rabbits survived, he said. It also meant more flies, which were thought to be an important vector of the virus.

Full article here.

Bunny killer fights jail term

  A BALLARAT teenager who strangled a pet rabbit in front of at least 11 terrified witnesses in broad daylight was yesterday sentenced to a year in jail, after a magistrate rejected his claim he had performed a mercy killing.
But father-of-one Tai Sharp, 18, walked free from Ballarat Magistrates Court on bail after lodging an appeal against the severity of the sentence.
The court heard that at the Little Bridge Street bus stop on the afternoon of November 3 last year, Sharp took the rabbit from a teenage female friend, stomped on its head, wrung its neck and pelted it twice against the bus stop window, before shouting, “I can kill the f***ing rabbit” and “how do you like that, I can do it again” and throwing the dead pet to the ground.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Bob Anderson said at least three children – the youngest six years old – witnessed the killing.
Sharp pleaded guilty to charges of public nuisance,
dishonestly undertaking in the retention of stolen goods and theft.
Sergeant Anderson called on magistrate Michelle Hodgson to jail him, a suggestion that drew gasps from Sharp’s many supporters seated in the body of the court.
“Your honour, this is a despicable act, it takes place in a busy Ballarat street on a weekday afternoon,” Sergeant Anderson said.
“The court needs to send a strong message of its abhorrence of this behaviour. People cannot commit these type of offences.”

Read the full article here.

Wildlife refuge no more for pests

Helicopters have worked through sub-Antarctic winter weather to twice saturate the 13,000-hectare wildlife refuge with poison baits targeted at rabbits, rats and mice. Now dogs are mopping up remnants.

The $25 million federal-state project had to overcome setbacks including abandonment of its first round of bait-laying flights last winter, and the unintended poisoning of hundreds of seabirds. Now rewards are flowing as grasses and other flora sprout through the cold.

Read more here.

Croydon woman fined over sick rabbit

A CROYDON woman who failed to take her sick rabbit to a vet has been fined and barred from owning another pet for two years.

Liwen Hang failed to appear in Burwood Local Court when the matter was dealt with last Tuesday, but was convicted and fined in her absence, after an RSPCA inspector gave evidence that the sick female rabbit was found in a dirty cage last year.

The inspector immediately took it to a vet.

The rabbit’s body was described as being thin and it was given treatment for a suspected pasteurella infection.

After a two-week course of treatment the rabbit’s symptoms improved and her body weight increased 29 per cent.

Following a court hearing, Ms Hang was convicted and fined $800.

ANIMAL CRUELTY
* Liwen Hang, of Croydon, was fined last week after failing to provide her rabbit with veterinary treatment
* She received an $800 fine, and was ordered to pay $79 court costs, more than $71 transcription costs and more than $500 vet and boarding costs
* Ms Hang is now prohibited from owning an animal for the next two 

Found on the Inner West Courier website.

Cottontail rabbit gets a hand

KITTERY, Maine — Wildlife biologists at the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Kittery are making what they hope will be a new home for a Maine endangered species — and on Tuesday they received some critical help from volunteer employees at Tom's of Maine.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees the refuge, is working to restore 15 acres of scrub brush, small trees and high grass, hoping to entice the New England cottontail rabbit.

The land, while not particularly attractive to the human eye, is just right to provide cottontails with shelter from predators and makings for a home.

It has been created deep within the refuge holdings on Seapoint Road in Kittery Point over the past two years, taking what had been forested land and clearing it to allow shrubs and new tree growth to develop.

According to wildlife biologist Kate O'Brien, most of Maine is either fields or forested, including former farmland that over time gave way to forests. "People don't manage for shrubland," she said.

Because that's where these cottontails thrive, their numbers have significantly declined over time. The New England cottontail is endangered in Maine and New Hampshire, and is on the list of species being watched by the federal government, as well.

Kelly Boland of the Environmental Defense Fund is working to restore the New England cottontail population throughout Maine — which means mostly in York and Cumberland counties, which have fewer forests than the state as a whole.

She said there is evidence of one cottontail "patch" near the refuge in Kittery, which has been proven using DNA testing by University of New Hampshire researchers. But it will take five to seven years before biologists will know whether they've been successful in luring the cottontail onto the land.

In order to keep the shrubland in pristine condition for the rabbits, biologists are monitoring the kinds of plants growing there. One such plant, the glossy buckthorn, is a foreign invasive species that can quickly take over and smother beneficial growth.

Because the refuge follows the dictum of its namesake, pioneer marine biologist Rachel Carson, no pesticides or herbicides are used on refuge land.

That's where the backs and brawn of more than 100 Tom's of Maine workers came in handy. They spent the whole morning identifying and pulling up glossy buckthorn.

Tuesday was the Kennebunk-based company's "Goodness Day" — a day when operations come to a halt so everyone can volunteer on one project together.

The company, which makes personal care products with natural ingredients, already allows its employees paid time off to volunteer throughout the year. But the Goodness Day is a separate, one-day event.

"It's an opportunity to bring the whole community together," said Rob Robinson, who works in consumer affairs and social media. "The whole place just shuts down and we work on one project."

A Kittery resident, he said he's happy the refuge in his home town was the beneficiary.

Susan Dewhirst, the company's public relations manager, said sales executives from around the country flew in to participate Tuesday, joining the workers in Kennebunk.

The in-kind match helped the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with a grant it received from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

from here.

Youths throw homeless mans bunny into river Leffey- Homeless man risks life to save him

article here.

Deadly Rabbit Disease May Have Doomed Iberian Lynx

The 1988 arrival of viral hemorrhagic disease (VHD) in Spain devastated that country's European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) population and, in the process, possibly doomed the local species most adapted to hunt rabbit, the Iberian lynx(Lynx pardinus).

The wildcat is now critically endangered, with an estimated 100 to 200 animals remaining in the wild. That makes them the world's most endangered feline species. The species numbered 4,000 animals in 1960.

One of the few areas where Iberian lynx still reside is Spain's Doñana National Park. According to research published in the March 2011 issue of Basic and Applied Ecology, the lynx was the only predator in the park not able to adapt to eating other prey when the rabbit population crashed.


Read full article.

Animal rights group 'behind bomb attack' on Lincolnshire farm

ANIMAL rights activists have claimed responsibility for a fire bomb attack on a Lincolnshire rabbit farm.

Highgate Farm, which breeds rabbits for vivisection, was targeted last Thursday when activists threw a petrol bomb at the home of Geoff Douglas.

1. ​
   WE DID IT: Animal rights activists have claimed responsibility for an attack on Highgate Farm.

Luckily, it did not take hold and left minimal damage. But a second device hit a Mercedes van parked nearby which gutted the interior. It happened in the early hours of the morning while Mr Douglas and his wife slept.

It was the latest in a string of attacks on the farm in Normanby-by-Spital, near Market Rasen.

Yesterday, an e-mail was sent to the Echo, which contained details of the attack and threats to Mr Douglas and his property.

It came via animal rights magazine Bites Back, based in Palm Beach, Florida, in the US. It said: "Activists had made sure that the posh conservatory off the main building was unoccupied and with the loud alarm system that was triggered by our arrival it meant that there was no chance of any harm being done to the Douglas family even though their large house and large gardens have been paid for out of the blood money of the thousands of rabbits and ferrets they have sent off to torture labs.

"The remaining one delivery van used to drive animals to their deaths was put out of action. We will continue to watch you and you will never know when we will strike next. Rest assured, while you profit from this disgusting genocide, we will be there to make you experience just a tiny amount of the fear that you help to cause to those innocent, beautiful creatures.

"We will target you in your comfortable home, remember when you look out each evening, it could be tonight we'll return.

"It is time to retire from the animal abuse industry and give up the animals for rehoming, we will not be patient anymore. We will get more serious, we promise to make it our goal to stop you once and for all, don't make the mistake of under-estimating us, we will not back down. Until the next visit."

The message was signed "Provisional RSPCA", but it is thought the name is false.

Lincolnshire Police spokesman James Newall said: "We are aware of this internet posting and it is informing our on-going inquiry. We are still appealing for witnesses. Anyone who may have information, we would urge to come forward."

From here.

Rabbits hop on to the menu on Melbourne's top restaurants

GOURMANDS are gnawing their way through Victoria's thriving rabbit population as city restaurants carve up thousands of the fluffy pests every week.

Rabbit suppliers are struggling to meet demand from Melbourne's top chefs turning humble underground mutton into top-dollar dishes.

As lamb and beef prices skyrocket and diners become more adventurous with game meats, rabbit is suddenly hot property at less than $10/kg.

And there's no shortage of wild bunnies in country Victoria. Hunters say the population has doubled since last year.

Maybe it comes down to Chinese astrology - 2011 is the year of the white rabbit.

But Peter "Rabbit" Golden says it all comes down to good rain, mild weather and loads of feed. It was a good week for the central Victorian hunter, who nabbed 3000 wild rabbits.

"There was a time when rabbit was poor man's tucker, but not any more," he said. "People can't get enough of them, but then lamb's pretty dear."

Read more.

Honour for homeless hero who rescued rabbit

A HOMELESS man who saved his pet rabbit from drowning in the Liffey is to be officially honoured by an animal charity.

Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) says it has been 'inundated' with calls of support for John Byrne since the Herald's story on Monday.

John dived off O'Connell bridge to rescue his pet rabbit Barney, after a passer-by had flung him off the bridge into the River Liffey.

He told the Herald this morning that he "cannot believe" he is going to be presented with the award on Tuesday.

"Ever since the Herald wrote about what happened, myself and Barney have been getting so much support.

"But to be given an award is unbelievable. It's nice to know that despite living on the street, people still care and want to do a nice thing for me,"

bravery

John Carmody of ARAN told the Herald that John's actions was one of the most 'admirable' things he's ever seen.

"We have been swamped with calls of support ever since the Herald broke the story. People were just taken aback by John's bravery.

"To think that he jumped off O'Connell bridge for his rabbit just shows how compassionate he is.

"It has sent a shiver down my spine for such a touching act of kindness. This award is only presented to one person each year and there's no doubt John deserves it. I urge everybody to get out there on Tuesday and support him."

Mr Carmody added that he believes John and Barney's ordeal will help their cause to lobby for stricter measures against animal cruelty.

ARAN campaigners are already planning to attend Dublin District Court on July 21 where the teenager who flung John's rabbit into the Liffey will face charges.

The 18-year-old was charged with a public order offence as well as animal cruelty. Garda Shona Moran of Store Street station, who arrested the teen involved, will be present at the presentation on Tuesday which takes place at 12.45pm on O'Connell Bridge.

John says the events on Sunday have changed his life.

The Herald revealed on Wednesday how the owner of a pet farm in Tipperary has already offered him a job and a place to stay for Barney.

"It's great to be asked, you never know what I'll do," John joked.

From here.

Freedom For Farmed Rabbits

In Australia thousands of rabbits are factory farmed, kept in dirty windowless sheds, similar to battery hens. The sheds confine rabbits to small overcrowded metal cages. They are kept in these cages until they are killed at around 1.5kg (usually10-12 weeks of age). Their bodies are sold to restaurants, butchers and select supermarkets. Although it is not known exactly how many producers are in business at one time, as of 2007 there are 43 rabbit farms Australia-wide (except in Queensland). The average farm imprisons 300 breeding does per farm. With the growing popularity of rabbit meat, the amount of farms and rabbits killed is set to rise. Global rabbit meat consumption in 2004 was 1.1 million tonnes. Approximately half this amount comes from farms. Raising rabbits for meat is frequently promoted as an easy and lucrative money-maker, and often attracts people to the industry with little or no experience. There is very little government inspection on rabbit farms: these places can go unlicensed and unregulated for years.


go to website.

Was It Animal Cruelty to Show a Live Bunny Killed in a Shakespeare Play?

So much for all those jokes about the English being dandies and all soft around the middle. As it turns out, it's the Yankees who are the squirrely, lily-livered ones. 

Two years after the Royal Shakespeare Company drew raves for a production of "As You Like It" that included a scene in which a dead rabbit was skinned and beheaded on stage to authentically depict the sometimes brutal nature of country living, that scene is causing an uproar among New York audiences. 

The just-opened show will hit the Big Apple as part of the Lincoln Center Festival, minus the bunny bit, which was cut at the last minute after the festival received several complaints from people who'd read about the show in a Wall Street Journal preview and decried what they saw as animal cruelty. A festival spokesperson said the show's director didn't want to "distract from the larger production." 

The original plan called for the rabbits to arrive DOA in New York, but that was put on ice after rabbit lovers began filling out an online petition over the weekend and calling the festival to complain about the continuing treatment of rabbits as second-class animal world citizens. 

Though Shakes didn't leave stage directions for the rabbit scene, the U.K. production made it a central part of depicting the sometimes rough-and-tumble, rural life. British audiences reportedly screamed, laughed or applauded during the scene where a shepherd tosses rabbit pieces into a bucket. 

Are American audiences too wimpy for on-stage rabbit skinning?


Add your comment/opinion here.

Statement by Michael Boyd on the use of rabbits

Michael Boyd, artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and director of As You LIke It, released the following statement today:   The Royal Shakespeare Company has decided not to use rabbits for its performances of As You Like It in New York.   The production opened in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2009 in the rural heart of the U.K. The dead rabbits used for the performances in Britain—part of a scene illustrating the contrast between court and countryside, where life was harsher and people hunted and prepared their own food—were sourced locally from gamekeepers as part of a farming control program.   The RSC and the RSPCA (the U.K. equivalent of the ASPCA) were satisfied that the rabbits used for the performances in Britain were sourced responsibly and killed humanely.   Sunday, July 2, 2011  

By: Lincoln Center Festival