CANMORE – Some of Canmore’s feral rabbits have survived the fatal disease that struck the population earlier this winter.
Town of Canmore officials say feral rabbits are reappearing, particularly in the Grotto neighbourhood, and worry the prolific breeders will continue to cause damage to private and public property if left unmanaged.
“We want to get the message out that if people are seeing feral rabbits to reach out to us as they will continue to cause thousands of dollars of damage if they re-emerge to where they were before,” said Greg Burt, supervisor of bylaw services for the Town of Canmore.
“This is the best opportunity right now for residents to report them and then we can have a contractor come to the property and catch them before they start multiplying … there’s been a few sightings, but not very many, but they could pop up in other places.”
Rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD), which is a highly contagious and lethal viral disease that has caused mass die-offs in rabbit populations, was confirmed in Canmore’s rabbits earlier this winter when carcasses tested positive.
RHD, which is specific to rabbit and hare species, usually leads to the animal becoming sick within one to five days after being exposed to the virus. Death is common after a short period of illness, although rabbits may also die suddenly without any signs.
The strain of rabbit hemorrhagic disease identified in Canmore was RHDV2, which also has been found to infect and kill some species of native rabbits and hares in other jurisdictions, and this strain first emerged in 2010 and now has global distribution.
In mid-November, Canmore residents began to notice feral rabbits were dropping dead in various residential neighbourhoods without explanation. Tests on carcasses in December determined it was RHD.
The virus has been confirmed in a few places in Alberta, including the Taber area in spring 2021, a small outbreak in Edmonton in fall 2021 and then a larger outbreak in the feral domestic rabbit population in Calgary last fall.
Canmore’s feral rabbit problem began in the 1980s when about 12 domesticated bunnies were released by a resident. Given rabbits breed prolifically because of short pregnancies combined with large litters, it didn’t take long for Canmore’s rabbit population to explode.
Since 2012, the Town of Canmore has hired a contractor to trap and humanely euthanize feral rabbits every year, spending approximately $587,000 on the removal of 2,130 feral rabbits to date.
The Town of Canmore asks rabbit sightings be reported to [email protected].
