Bunny Park in the clear

The chief state veterinarian and two independent private veterinarians have given the Ekurhuleni Metro’s Bunny Park the all clear.

In his report, the chief vet, who is based at provincial level, said most of the animals examined were found to be healthy and no evidence of the alleged zoonotic skin (orf) disease primarily found in sheep and goats could be found.

Orf is a virus that may survive in the soil.

According to the report, in the tropical climates of South Africa, specifically in Gauteng, the virus cannot survive in the soil, therefore the Bunny Park soil cannot be infested with the Orf virus.

The chief vet confirmed that the majority of bunnies exhibited normal behaviour.

He also noted that there were some that were severely diseased as a result of mange and said they did not see dead rabbits, but that they had not excavated the burrows for evidence.

“The overpopulation has caused severe damage to the land and decimated the flora of the park, the high population has also led to inbreeding and a decline in intrinsic immunity in these animals with the resultant outbreak of disease and high parasite loads,” the vet said.

The Bunny Park was closed for a week to allow the team of vets to assess allegations made regarding the health of animals at the park.

The metro has welcomed recommendations from the state vet to reduce the population.

Management of the park will be requesting the council to approve a plan to sterilise and reduce the population of bunnies, rehabilitate the park and place healthy bunnies in enclosures for public viewing.

While there were no negative findings on other animals in the park including the donkeys, cattle, poultry and aviary, the vet noted that all the pigs were overweight and that their food intake must be cut to avoid health problems.

In this regard, the metro has appointed a nutritionist and determined a fixed feeding schedule.

Official feeding times will be from 8am to noon and the type of food during this period is hay, pellets and vegetables, however, there is free flow of vegetables regularly available as well as fresh water and hey 24 hours a day.

The metro is currently consulting a nutritionist to determine a diet programme for different animals.

At this stage, the animals are fed according to the diet programme below:

• Cows: 5kg pellets, unlimited hay and vegetables the size of a wheel barrow per cow.
• Donkeys: 5kg pellets per donkey, unlimited hay and vegetables the size of a wheel barrow per donkey.
• Sheep and goats: 1kg pellets per head, unlimited hay and vegetables.
• Rabbits: 200kg for all bunnies, unlimited hay and vegetables.

“Furthermore, we need to reiterate that there has always been monthly tests for the water and no irregularities were found, three boreholes are fully functional,” says Themba Gadebe, spokesman for the metro.

He adds that the metro has also appointed a consultant to review a master plan on the upgrade of the park which include pathways, dams, vegetation, animal shelters, rehabilitation of the area, planting of pastures, upgrade of the irrigation system as well as building a sickbay for animals.

The provision of about R7-million has been made available for the implementation of the master plan over the next three financial years.

Springsites took to the Addie’s Facebook page to share their opinion.

• Bruce Gardner: “We often used to take our children and grandchildren [to the Bunny Park] but it became neglected and bad. Hope it’s a lot better again.”
• Maranda Fouche: “I cannot believe this is what was going on there. Every day you get to hear more terrible and horrifying stories. Don’t just talk, react and act, the public would like to actually see the improvement.”
• Kymon Giannakopoulos: “Reactive governance at its best. No media storm and nothing would’ve been done about it. Since Duduza has its fire station, and Benoni has its bunnies back, can Springs have its Pam Brink Stadium back?”