Bunny Park revamp on track
Work at the Bunny Park is progressing, with over 850 bunnies having been sterilised by the metro and adopted by the public.
This is according to Jaco Burger, the metro’s project manager for parks and cemeteries.
Tania Forrest-Smith, committee member of the Ward 27 environmental portfolio, said her group, Save the Bunny Park Animals, previously put about 350 bunnies up for adoption, bringing the total figure up to about 1 200.
She said the previous figures of about 2 000 bunnies adopted and 1 600 sterilised (published May 26, page 5) were incorrect.
Forrest-Smith recently expressed concern that the speed of sterilisations is not keeping up with the pace of the bunnies’ reproduction.
“The metro needs to appoint more veterinarians to speed up the process,” she said.
Clr Jacques Meiring (Ward 27) said everything is going smoothly, but concurred that sterilisations must speed up.
“It hasn’t been a problem yet, but it’s a little concerning; the process must accelerate, so it doesn’t hinder the revamp,” Meiring said.
Burger doesn’t agree that the population is growing faster than the vets are sterilising them.
“I think we are all are astonished by how many rabbits there actually are in the park,” he said.
“Unfortunately only two veterinarians completed the bid documents and both were appointed.”
Burger said the revamp of the facility is on schedule.
“We’ve dug out a lot of sludge from the ponds – they’re now deeper and cleaner,” Burger said.
“The plan is to connect all three ponds and have the water circulate, making it cleaner and healthier than before.
Burger lastly thanked the Save the Bunny Park Animals and Ban Animal Trading volunteers for “their relentless work with the bunnies and other animals; without them we wouldn’t have come so far”.
Forrest-Smith said there continues to be trouble at the park.
“The drip trays here are missing, and now the bunnies have to eat off the ground,” she said.
“The construction work has also split up the different colonies of bunnies, meaning we have to go further to feed them all, because one colony won’t eat the food strewn in another colony’s area.”
In a letter sent to the City Times by Rynfield resident Patricia du Plessis, she makes mention of the bunnies being hit by cars in the streets adjacent to the park.
“Who is responsible that the bunnies from the Bunny Park run across the road? They go to the shopping centres and the chemist area adjacent to the park,” she said.
“I saw three (road kill) which were run over last week.
“This is terrible, all due to lack of care on the part of the proprietors; perhaps inadequate care regarding their being fenced in properly.”
The refurbishment project is expected to last until at least July.
To adopt a bunny or donate food, contact Forrest-Smith on bbpadoptions@gmail.com or 084 601 1061 (WhatsApp only).
Also read:
Speed of bunny sterilisations raises concerns
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