About 70 of the bunnies have been placed inside the new enclosed area inside the park.
This comes with the completion of renovations to the Bunny Park, with this year’s Ekurhuleni budget.
Ekurhuleni spokesperson Themba Gadebe said there are too many bunnies in the park, which results in all the grass being eaten and visitors to the Bunny Park asking for grass to be planted.
Caretaker at the park Gideon Strydom said enclosing the bunnies is a strategy to resolve these public complaints.
“However, I personally prefer it if the bunnies are left outside to be free,” he said.
Gadebe said an official assessment will be done in consultation with the SPCA, to see how many bunnies can be kept on the Bunny Parks’s premises.
He confirmed that there are currently approximately 2 000 of these animals in the park, and around 60 to 70 inside the enclosed area.
He added that an illness (believed to be mange) which some of the bunnies carry does not have an influence on this initiative.
“The problem is the excess of bunnies and the metro not being able to grass the Bunny Park,
“If the bunnies are kept in the enclosure (which was built for this purpose), the metro will be able to grass the Bunny Park and in doing so provide for the needs of the community,” he said.
According to Strydom, the bunnies that are currently in the enclosed area will be kept and the rest will be donated to a selection of parks.
“They will not be given to lion or cheetah parks,” he said.
“They will be placed in proper care.”
Clr Gerrie Kriek, in whose ward the Bunny Park falls, said he is glad if some of the weaker bunnies are being kept separately, but he still would like some of the bunnies to run free.
“The park is a bit dull in the winter, but in the summer there is more than enough grass; everything grows beautifully,”he said.
“There is more than enough nutrition and a new irrigation system was installed around the park to help growth,” he said.
He added that bunnies have always run freely within the park, that families are used to this and that, with supervision in place, it can be ensured that none of the bunnies are mistreated.
He said he will fight for this ideal to remain the same.
Strydom said he is working together with the Benoni SPCA, to identify and rid the park of the illness affecting some of the bunnies.
