Why do the rabbits need to be relocated?

The large population of feral domestic rabbits have caused damage to the park's landscape including destruction of trees and brush and have displaced native wildlife that inhabit the park. The rabbits themselves face many dangers and their population encourages misguided people to abandoned their own companion rabbits into this harsh reality. Seattle Parks and Recreation is committed to humanly trapping the park's non-native rabbit population and relocating them to Rabbit Meadows Sanctuary, where they can live out their lives in a safe environment and ensure that Woodland Park will continue to be a beautiful and safe place for generations to come.

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Why shouldn't I feed the rabbits?

Feeding the rabbits may seem harmless, but much of the food being provided to them by people will make them sick. Feeding the rabbits will also result in more baby bunnies being born because the rabbits think there is a plentiful food supply. Another result of feeding them is that many of the rabbits will stop foraging and start to depend upon people to feed them every day. In the colder months, when there are fewer people who visit the park and bring food to them, many of those rabbits will begin to starve, and eventually die.

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What dangers do the rabbits face living at the park?

The rabbits at Woodland Park face daily challenges to stay alive. Among the natural wildlife that inhabits the park are many predators who prey on the rabbits. Unlike wild rabbits, these domesticated bunnies are especially easy prey because most of them have fur coloring that does not allow them to easily blend into their surroundings. They also face the danger of being hit by cars; chased and killed by off-leash dogs; and humans causing them deliberate harm. Many of the park rabbits have contracted and are carriers of parasites like coccidia and strongyloides. If left untreated, these parasites will cause them illness and even death. These parasites are zoonotic, which means that humans and other animals can contract them when they come in contact with rabbit feces.

The average age of the rabbits at Woodland Park is around 6 months, there are only a few rabbits who are over one year old in contrast to house rabbits who have a typical lifespan of 8-10 years. Relocating them to our sanctuary will give them the opportunity to live into their golden years as they were meant to do.

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Aren't the rabbits part of the park's natural wildlife?

These rabbits are not part of the park's natural wildlife population. They are domestic rabbits who are genetically far removed from their wild cousins. The park's rabbit population is the result of misguided humans releasing their own rabbits when they were no longer willing to care for them. This has been an ongoing problem for decades. The individual rabbits do not survive for long in this setting and the population would surely die out in a few months time if people stopped releasing their "pet" rabbits into the park. Instead, the new arrivals, who are not spayed or neutered, begin to produce more rabbits. The offspring grow up in a very short time and also breed, producing more rabbits. A domestic rabbit can become pregnant at 4 months old (some think even younger) and by 6 months of age can easily have 12-20 babies.

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How will you be able to trap all of the rabbits?

To ensure that we pick-up all of the rabbits, we will start by trapping the larger groups. After that we will continue to trap and relocate the smaller groups of rabbits until we have rescued all that we can find. (During the trapping volunteers will visit each of the areas previously cleared and we will return if additional rabbits are observed.) Once we believe we have picked up all of the rabbits the major trapping will stop. To insure that the problem does not reoccur, Park employees and volunteers will monitor the park in the years to come for newly abandoned rabbits. Any abandoned rabbits will be picked up as soon as possible, treated as strays and turned over to Seattle Animal Shelter.

The House Rabbit Society has successfully relocated several feral rabbit populations, including the "Redmond Rabbits" who were trapped at a Redmond business park. Partnering with others, we were able to capture all 652 rabbits at the business park. And through monitoring the area, trapping and relocating newly abandoned rabbits and educating the public, we were succesful at keeping the business park clear of rabbits. We also relocated 150 rabbits from the Aqua Barn campgrounds prior to it being buldozed for new development. And we worked with the Wenatchee Humane Society in relocating rabbits & guinea pigs from the Rocky Reach Damn area.

We are experienced and we will be successful in relocating the Woodland Park rabbits.

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Will the rabbits be available for adoption?

Most of the park rabbits are feral and may not make good companions, unless you have lots of time and patience to spend socializing them. There will likely be some rabbits who are already socialized and they will be available for adoption at our shelter. If you volunteer to help feed and clean the rabbits after they are trapped and while they are waiting to go to the sanctuary, you may find the perfect rabbit for you! Or if you are unable to volunteer, keep checking our web page Best Little Rabbit, Rodent & Ferret House, to find rabbits available for adoption after being spayed or neutered. Please visit our shelter for more information on adopting a rabbit.

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How can I volunteer my time to help the rabbits?

We are currently seeking volunteers to help feed, clean, care for and transport the rabbits after they are trapped. They will be housed for at least 3 weeks while being treated for any illness or injuries and spayed or neutered before being released to their new home at Rabbit Meadows Sanctuary. Please visit our volunteer page for more information. The trapping will be done by our trained staff and volunteers.

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Why do the rabbits need to be relocated?

Why shouldn't I feed the rabbits?

What dangers do the rabbits face living at the park?

Aren't the rabbits part of the park's natural wildlife?

How will you be able to trap all of the rabbits?

Will the rabbits be available for adoption?

How can I volunteer my time to help the rabbits?