2‚000 Benoni bunnies to become pet food for zoo animals

The City of Ekurhuleni is donating 2‚000 rabbits to the Johannesburg Zoo‚ where they will be fed to carnivores.

The municipality said the donation was being made in order to get rid of excess rabbits at the Benoni Bunny Park.

An overpopulated park risked several problems‚ including inbreeding and a decline in immunity‚ leaving the animals vulnerable to disease outbreaks and parasites‚ the city said.

"While the practice of free roaming rabbits at Bunny Park is an inherited and accepted management practice‚ it has however‚ became an increasing concern to animal rights organisations in recent years‚ especially in relation to inbreeding‚" Ekurhuleni spokesperson Themba Gadebe said in a statement.

"We have decided that‚ from a zoological point of view‚ this is no longer the best practice."

Gadebe said it would not be financially viable to sterilise all 2‚000 rabbits.

The city had already sterilised and relocated 750 rabbits at a cost of R300‚000.

The park is undergoing upgrades worth R7 million.