Canmore rabbit trapping over until fall

An animal rescue group says the trapping of feral rabbits in Canmore is over until the fall and so far there have been no casualties.

The picturesque community on the eastern edge of Banff National Park began trapping its burgeoning bunny population in late January and have been turning the rabbits over to the Earth Animal Rescue Society (EARS), which has sterilized the animals and found sanctuaries for them. EARS spokeswoman Susan Vickery says a flood of funding came in to support the bunnies in March after it appeared that a lack of cash was going to lead to the animals being euthanized.

She says the town of Canmore finished trapping at the end of March and so far more than200 rabbits have been spayedand transferred to local sanctuaries.

Canmore says it has as many as 2,000 rabbits that it needs to removeone for every six people in the town of 12,000 but Vickery and her group believe the number is actually closer to about 800.

She believes the remainder could be removed and given new homes if the community embarks on an aggressive trapping strategy in the fall.