About 70 of the bunnies have been placed inside the new enclosed area, while more than 1 000 are set to be relocated to other animal parks.
This follows complaints from visitors to the Bunny Park about a lack of grass, which Ekurhuleni spokesperson Themba Gadebe said is a result of too many bunnies in the park that eat it.
Among the comments were:
Leila Elbourne wrote: “It is a bunny park after all — that is why people go there,
“To stick 70 bunnies in an enclosure and get rid of the rest just so a few complaining humans can have grass to walk on is ridiculous,
“Then it will no longer be a bunny park.
“Part of the whole setup is bunnies running around all over; hence the name Bunny Park.
“The new manager needs to wake up — this park has been around for years and years and survived many threats to its future over the years.
Caroline Cheetham wrote: “No no no; I agree with Leila Elbourne,”
“I used to go to the Bunny Park when I was little and yes, the best part was the bunnies running around and being able to feed them carrots, and hell, we even got to touch a few.
“Now I take my two-year-old daughter and she also loves it — why take this away from our youth and turn it into a zoo where all you can do is stare at animals through or over a fence — please do not do this,
“Honestly, I pray you think long and hard before you act.”
René Kleyn Real: “It just would not be the bunny park anymore; I do not think this makes sense at all.”
Cindy Janse van Vuuren: “What is the use in taking my toddler to a bunny park when all he can see is animals behind a fence?
“No thank you,
“If this is what you want to do then you better prepare for even more complaints and less people coming and going.
“PS: have you ever thought what it might feel like if you were free all your life and all of a sudden you get thrown in a cage?”
Inspector at the Benoni SPCA Renee Rossolimos said people like having bunnies running around but feed them incorrect foods that they bring from home.
She explained that incorrect feeding influences the bunnies’ susceptibility to pick up illness, due to having a weak immune system.
“A benefit of the enclosure might be controlling their feeding,” she said.
Rossolimos said she feels the caretaker should allow visitors to the park to enter the enclosure and still be able to interact with the bunnies.
She added that she does not think all the bunnies will be removed, due to the difficulty of catching them.
Caretaker at the Bunny Park Gideon Strydom said placing the bunnies in the enclosure will enable them to control illnesses.
“It will be easier to catch the ill ones in a smaller area and act on it,”he explained.
“The Bunny Park is huge; you will run around forever to try to catch an ill bunny.”
He added that there will be more grass for the cattle in the park, and for the public to sit on.
