Robben Island rabbit problem
20th October 2008
Robben Island, home to Nelson Mandela’s former prison and one of South Africa’s most-visited sites, is to be closed for two weeks to deal with a ‘plague’ of rabbits.
There are estimated to be 10,000 European rabbits on the island. They’ve chomped their way through much of its vegetation after numbers were allowed to grow unchecked.
The island’s authorities argue that, without a cull, many rabbits would die from starvation during the summer months. Their voracious appetites also threaten to starve the other animal inhabitants of the island, including a sizeable bird population.
The cull will be ‘humane’ and will be carried out with animal rights groups. A small number of rabbits will be sterilised and left on the island.
European sailors originally introduced the rabbits as a food source in the 17th century. The population has grown massively since, particularly after the rabbits’ last predators, wild cats, were removed in 2006.
The island will be closed from the 1st to the 16th of November while the cull takes place. During that period, the island’s buses and ferries will also be repaired ready for the summer.
Nelson Mandela was one of many political prisoners held on Robben Island during the apartheid era, where he spent 18 years in a single cell. The island is now a World Heritage site.
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