On Monday, the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality’s (EMM) said it would send at least 2 000 bunnies to the zoo, where they will become feed for animals.
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This news was met with criticism by many social media commentators on the Benoni City Times Facebook page.
Smaragda Louw, director and chairperson of Ban Animal Trading (Bat), said the organisation believes the municipality’s decision to donate animals to the zoo is a “total disregard” for a high court order which was handed down earlier this year.
Louw said Bat’s legal team is compiling court papers as they intend on bringing an urgent application before the high court to interdict the municipality from sending the bunnies to the zoo.
She said the court order made earlier this year states that the EMM would need to sterilise the park’s rabbits.
Louw said the municipality’s “poor management” of the sterilisation process has meant they cannot keep up with the animals’ breeding.
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She said the animals should have been sterilised in large batches in order to curtail the rapid breeding.
The activist said she spoke to the zoo’s management, who she said was not aware of the previous legal action.
Jenny Moodley, the spokesperson for the Johannesburg Zoo, said the matter was referred to the zoo’s legal department yesterday.
Moodley said they should, by the end of today (September 20), receive legal guidance on whether they will continue accepting rabbits from the Bunny Park.
She said the zoo last week received the first intake of 50 rabbits.
EMM spokesperson Themba Gadebe could not confirm whether there was any truth to the latest development.
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