No date for Bunny Park closure yet
There is no date yet for the closure of the Bunny Park, but some animals have already been moved to new homes.
In a settlement reached between the Ekurhuleni Metro and the Bunny Park volunteer groups, it was decided the park will be closed for a period to be refurbished.
During this time, many of the animals will be moved to other metro-owned facilities.
Ban Animal Trading (Bat) and the Bunny Park Animals 911 Group settled with the metro out of court on July 25.
A compromise was reached between the parties, at the South Gauteng High Court, in Johannesburg.
The metro said there is no definite date for the closure of the park, as they are still in the planning phase.
New municipal comment stated that R7-million is available for the refurbishment of the park over the next two financial years.
The metro listed some of the pending upgrades:
•Additional animal shelters
•Irrigation system
•Planting of pastures
•More walkways
•Playground areas
•Braai/picnic areas
•Cleaning of the dams/ponds
Tania Forrest-Smith (911 Group) and the metro’s advocate, Modise Koetle, said, at the settlement meeting on July 25, that all the bunnies would be caught and sterilised by the metro.
They further said 50 bunnies would stay behind after this, while the rest will go up for adoption.
The metro confirmed this, saying: “This was the metro’s position from the start: that the Bunny Park is over-populated with rabbits and that a small number of healthy, sterilised rabbits should remain in the park.”
“The remainder of rabbits should be relocated to suitable facilities,” Themba Gadebe, Ekurhuleni Metro spokesperson added.
“The over-population of rabbits resulted in a number of undesirable side effects, such as inbreeding, the spread of diseases and the total over-grazing of pastures.”
Gadebe said that, for the time being, all the rabbits will remain in the Bunny Park, until the finalisation of the necessary administrative processes.
The spokesperson continued by saying the other animals in the park will be temporarily moved to other metro-owned facilities.
“One of the crucial elements of the upgrading is the planting of pastures for the animals to graze,” his comment stated.
“It is further important that the newly planted pastures have time to develop strong and healthy roots systems.
“As soon as the pastures are ready, all the animals will be returned to the Bunny Park.”
Meanwhile, two donkeys and two goats have been moved from the park to other facilities.
“The donkeys will go to Spirit and Soul Rescue and the goats will be re-homed at a facility approved by Bat and 911,” Forrest-Smith said.
The metro could not confirm this at the time of publication.
Also read:
Bunny Park group continues work
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