Rabbits @ UVic

Sure, they’re cute, but the rabbits on the University of Victoria campus are wildlife, not pets. And just like other wildlife on campus, the rabbits should be left alone. Look, but please don’t feed, touch or harass them.

Although rabbits are part of UVic campus life, they constitute a safety and potential health hazard on the athletic fields and are causing damage to campus vegetation and property. To help reduce this impact, the university is developing a long-term management plan for feral rabbits.

The first step was the ongoing rabbit awareness campaign, launched in fall 2008, to change the way people interact with feral rabbits on campus. The next step was counts of the rabbit population in designated areas of campus such as around the athletic fields and inside Ring Road.

As the latest step, UVic has entered into a pilot project agreement with Common Ground, a wildlife damage control company. Common Ground will test non-lethal approaches to remove, sterilize and find new homes for at least 150 feral rabbits from areas in and around the university’s athletic fields.

The pilot project will identify measures that hold the most promise for maintaining areas currently designated as “rabbit-free.” UVic has been testing a variety of landscaping approaches over the past year.

Lessons learned from the pilot project will inform UVic’s development of a humane long-term, cost-effective, campus-wide rabbit management strategy. UVic will continue to pursue solutions in a timely manner.

Community members or organizations who are interested in volunteering, providing financial support, or potential new homes for the rabbits captured during the pilot project are encouraged to contact Common Ground through http://earthanimalrights.org.

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Rabbits @ UVic