Easter Bunny Hunt 2011: 23,000 Rabbits Killed In New Zealand (POLL)

While some families were enjoying a nice meal together, or perhaps a peaceful church service, hunters in New Zealand killed over 23,000 bunnies over Easter weekend, NewsCore reports.

The 2011 Great Easter Bunny Hunt on New Zealand's South Island is billed as a charity event that rids farmland of an invasive pest, but some animal welfare groups see the event in an entirely different light.

From the Sunday Star Times:

Safe director Hans Kriek said he was against the hunt. "It's seen as a party atmosphere, sending people out as inexperienced hunters blasting away at animals. The ones they kill are one thing, the ones they injure are another."

He also doubted the effectiveness of a 24-hour hunt, which did more to incite cruelty than control the pest.

"You can commit any atrocity you like to animals in the name of hunting, and you fall outside the legislation, which is crazy, because wild animals feel pain just as much as domestic ones," he said.

According to the Otago Daily Times, thousands of people gathered in Alexandra's Pioneer Park to see the thousands of rabbits killed by 47 teams of hunters over the course of 24 hours.

Event convener David Ramsay told the Daily Times, "We think we're doing something to tackle the rabbit problem and I think the majority of views, especially those of farmers, are in our favour."

What do you think: is the annual hunt necessary to cull an out-of-control rabbit population, or is it unnecessary and cruel? Weigh in with your opinion in our poll below, and leave your thoughts in the comments.

Quick Poll

How do you feel about the Great Easter Bunny Hunt?

Useful & Necessary

Cruel & Barbaric

I'm Not Sure

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Comments

[rodjard]

08:54 AM on 05/02/2011

Most if not all of the United States have Rabbit hunting season. and Deer Hunting
seasons and Squarrel hunting seasons that are several months long. Sometimes
there are special seasons when overpopulations threaten crops, cause traffic
accidents on highways and cause the overpopulation of the to become deseased
in some cases. The balance of nature has been severely hampered by Human
expansion into the countryside and suberban areas.

[rodjard]

07:33 AM on 05/02/2011

I eat meat and I love Rabbit. I am not Gene Autry.
I get Hungry. I also eat chicken, pig, beef and turkey
Get a grip people

[N0NDescript0]

03:49 PM on 04/29/2011

Why does Hans Kriek seem to be OK with killing rabbits, but not injuring them? Does he expect every shot from a hunter's rifle or shot gun to be a 100% accurate kill-shot? That's just absurdly unrealistic. Moreover, injuring and killing the rabbits is not mutually exclusive.

I also like that Hans Kriek implies that some people think wild animals experience pain in a different way, compared to domesticated animals. Umm...I'm pretty sure no intelligent person is making that their main argument. I think the actual argument is how the animals feel pain...and whether or not Hans Kriek and his friends tend to anthropomorphize for the sake of their argument.

[jsgaetano]

11:24 AM on 04/29/2011

It's a shame Americans destroyed all the natural predators in the ecosystem, like wolves.

[cupcake77]

06:21 PM on 04/28/2011

I have nothing against bunnies but they don't say *&^% like rabbits for nothing. I remember as a kid my parents driving through someplace out west, Utah or something and there were thousands of rabbits. They were everywhere. It was some kind of population explosion. They were all over the roads and many were squished. Cars were weaving in and out trying to avoid them. It was like something out of a Stephen King horror novel. When they over populate they don't mess around. They can be an extreme invasive species.

[TheDodoBird]

02:02 PM on 04/28/2011

Though I do not condone the manner in which the rabbitts were killed (a bunch of amateurs running around killing them, injuring them, etc...), it is unfortunantly necessary.

Rabbitts are not native there, and are highly invasive. They pose a threat to all of the other native species, and they pose a threat to the integrity of the ecosystem. They need to be eliminated entirely from the New Zealand, but I can think of better ways of doing it than this...

[casaroonc]

06:17 PM on 04/27/2011

This story needs more facts. some have posted bellow that this is an invasive non-native species. If this is so then it may be warranted.

By the by I say this as a life long vegetarian. (and by life long I mean my parents are vegetarians, I was raised that way & am raising my children that way)

[OdinsEye]

11:51 PM on 04/27/2011

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/rabbits/1

http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/kids/nzbirdsanimals/rabbits/

[OdinsEye]

01:34 PM on 04/27/2011

Unfortunately, rabbits are a non-native, highly destructive AKA invasive animal to N.Z. They destroy crops, out compete indigenous animals and drive them to extinction, and can host several dangerous diseases. Rabbit really should not exist in N.Z.

[RavenRaving]

02:17 AM on 04/27/2011

Quit calling them 'bunnies', or especially 'Easter bunnies', and call them 'Rabbits'. Then get an understanding of what happens when a prolific breeder like rabbits are introduced into a country like New Zealand that has no natural rabbit predators. It's a nightmare of environmental destruction.
When the hunt is over, let anyone who wants to eat rabbit take what they want. Then let anyone with a use for the hides have a go, and lastly, grind the rest up into pig food.

[lackofoversight]

02:53 AM on 04/27/2011

I agree that the out-of-control rabbit population needs to be controlled. But I find it in poor taste to choose Easter as the time to do it. There are 364 other days in the year in which to cull. So as long as they want Easter as the official day to kill the rabbits, I think it's perfectly OK to call them "bunnies" and even "Easter bunnies" .... until they move the date.

[Berettasskeeter]

08:18 AM on 04/27/2011

The day is unimportant. But, coming at the end of April, it is the time when farmers are making their final harvests, wherever possible, and storing for the winter. The rabbits haven't yet changed their colors completely, and will ravage the stored crops and feed. But they don't do a terrible lot of breeding during the winter, and so this slows down the increase.
Semper fi

[owltattoo]

07:48 AM on 04/27/2011

Agreed. Huffington Post continues to sink like a rock. I'm sure their new masters are so proud.

[SukiTheCat]

10:50 PM on 04/26/2011

what about the human problem? anyone doing anything to tackle the human problem? by far the worst thing to happen to this world.

[CivilDebate10]

11:35 PM on 04/26/2011

Why don't you start with yourself then?

[owltattoo]

07:47 AM on 04/27/2011

Charity begins at home.

[MissFrijole]

12:29 PM on 04/27/2011

I agree. There is an issue with humans encroaching upon the natural habitats of animals...yet humans support pregnancies and having as many kids as possible. It's disgusting. And no, I'm not killing myself just to spare the world one extra person! That's absurrd. But how about people stop breeding like RABBITS!

[FTracy3]

07:16 PM on 04/26/2011

Was Glenn Close the honorary Grand Marshall?

[DaMojo]

03:43 PM on 04/27/2011

Hehe. She could wear a cooking pot on her head.

[TheGripester]

03:40 PM on 04/26/2011

I think some people have no idea how New Zealand's indigenous flora and fauna are being devastated by introduced species. We have over 70 million Australian possums, not to mention millions of stoats, ferrets, rats, feral cats, of which our native population of birds and plant life have no natural defense. Forget about feeling sorry for cute little bunnies being culled - how about little kiwi chicks being dragged screaming from their burrows by predators, nests being feasted upon, and whole forests being ravaged as flowering blossoms are stripped from native trees? That is a crisis far more ugly than some bunnies being rounded up.

[INDIVIDUALTERRY]

04:18 PM on 04/26/2011

Don't worry about the tree huggers who grew up thinking deer all think and sound like Bambi in the movies.
Enjoy the bunnies !

[HekmagaJuximaxx]

05:32 PM on 04/26/2011

Biggest predator out there are Loggers and forest-burners.
Enjoy the Humans

[geckorun]

10:47 PM on 04/26/2011

Not all "tree huggers" are like that. I for one being a so called Tree Hugger/environmentalist would like to see every last Bunnie dead and gone from NZ as well as the cute little deer, Himalayan Tahr, stoats,Ferrets, cute little Hedgehogs, Hares, Possums, Rats, Mice and what ever else plagues NZs natural environment.I want the Mongoose gone from Hawaii, The Burmese Pythons gone from Florida, the Feral Cats, Foxes, Cane toads and Camels gone from Australia I just hope its done as humane as possible. At at the moment the only real solution is a gun, trapping or poisoning. As such a choice must be made let the indigenous ecology suffer and die out or use what methods are available. Unless or until those " Tree Huggers" who criticize the hunts have a better more efficient and humane solution then your going to be hard pressed to convince the locals not to see the positive in such hunts and I certainly get no enjoyment from killing anything even for food.

Also to the uninformed "Tree Huggers" live capturing is not going to work when you are talking of pest species which number either in the 100,000 of thousands and some cases millions in NZ. The only thing I can agree with with some tree huggers is I do not like the idea of killing for fun.

[William Leeman]

02:42 PM on 04/26/2011

So is it alright to do this to invasive-ecosystem destroying humans also?

[Tanrioldu]

03:11 PM on 04/26/2011

the rabbits are there. they are over populating at a very fast pace and threaten the native ecosystem. What would you rather do? Let the cute little bunnies destroy the native NZ flora and fauna? No? well until you have a better idea, maybe you should keep quiet.

[RockyMissouri]

04:31 PM on 04/26/2011

I see your point..... Hmmmmm.... Humans should use birth control...educate...spay and neuter their pets...be responsible for your animals. Didn't Hawaii have this problem with wild pigs...?

[INDIVIDUALTERRY]

02:22 PM on 04/26/2011

Yummmm...i like mine fried .
Slow cooked and BBQ'd is good too!

[mnyegele]

02:21 PM on 04/26/2011

What do they do with the Easter bunnies? If they eat them, that's OK. Rabbits have no business in New Zealand. They are destroying the environment. Killing them is the only way to keep them from destroying everything in New Zealand.