BANFF – A rogue rabbit has been caught.
A municipal enforcement officer with the Town of Banff picked up the rabbit on Saturday (Jan. 7) following a report from a Parks Canada employee who saw posts on social media about sightings of the rabbit around town.
The rabbit is believed to be an escaped pet.
“It is obviously a stray pet as it walked up to the officer as he extended his hand with a piece of fruit,” said Jason Darrah, communications director for the Town of Banff.
“The rabbit is being cared for on Town premises and we are posting on social media for the owner to collect it.”
Since 2020, a bylaw has restricted pet rabbits in Banff because the Town of Banff wants to avoid what happened in Canmore, where a feral rabbit population got out of control when about 12 domesticated bunnies were released by a resident in the 1980s. Before 2020, the bylaw limited the number of domestic rabbits per home to four.
Domestic and feral rabbits are considered a wildlife attractant and can also cause extensive damage to public and private property, and leave behind a significant amount of feces.
Darrah said the owners of the rabbit found in Banff will be able to keep their pet if they had it before the bylaw came into effect in 2020.
He said it would be grandfathered as an allowed pet.
“If it is a more recent addition to a Banff family, they would have to find a new home for it elsewhere,” he said.
“If we do not find the owner in Banff, we will work with one of the regional SPCAs to find a new home.”
In Banff, there have been roughly 20 domesticated rabbits captured over the past five years. Many were relocated through the Earth Animal Rescue Society (EARS), with rabbits going to various sanctuaries in Calgary, near Cochrane and in Victoria, B.C.
In neighbouring Canmore, feral rabbits, given their ability to draw large carnivores into town in search of a meal and are a non-native species, were raised as a serious concern by the Bow Valley human-wildlife coexistence task force in 2018.
The Town of Canmore has hired a contractor to live trap and humanely euthanize feral rabbits every year since 2012.
There were an estimated 2,000 rabbits when trapping began. There is currently no population estimate now, but short gestation periods and large litters mean rabbit numbers can bump up quickly.
According to the municipality, $587,000 has been spent on the removal of 2,130 feral rabbits, at a cost of $275 per rabbit, since the trapping program began in 2012.
In December, rabbit hemorrhagic disease – a highly contagious and fatal viral disease of rabbits and hare species that hit Calgary hard earlier this fall – was confirmed in Canmore’s feral rabbit population.
After being exposed to the virus, rabbits usually become sick within one to five days. Death is common after a short period of illness, although rabbits may also die suddenly without any signs.
If the rabbit caught in Banff on Saturday is your pet, call the Town of Banff's municipal enforcement department at 403-762-1218.
