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Shooters sent out to curb bunny explosion

Paul O'Mahony
Paul O'Mahony - [email protected]
Shooters sent out to curb bunny explosion

The volume of rabbits in Stockholm has become such a traffic problem that the city authorities have taken to sending out shooting squads at dawn to reduce their numbers.

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"There are between 5,000 and 6,000 rabbits in the city," Mats Freij from the Traffic Office told The Local.

"This is too many and they are damaging the parks and roads.

"Many of the rabbits are to be found near Klarabergsleden, which is the busiest road in Sweden. The rabbits are a danger to motorists, who put their foot on the brake every time they see one," said Freij.

Rabbits are not native to Sweden and the problem has stemmed from just a few domestic pets being released and rabbits doing what rabbits to best.

"All they do is eat and reproduce," said Freij.

Local authorities have had to take drastic measures to reduce the rabbit population.

"We have two people whose only job it is to track down the rabbits and shoot them. They take out between 1,000 and 1,500 rabbits per year. Mostly they work at dawn," said Freij.

Stockholm authorities realise that the rate at which rabbits reproduce means that more must be done.

"We are now also trying to catch them with nets.

"Today a journalist wrote that we are considering gassing them but that is not true. It is not interesting to us at all. Gassing is a very controversial solution, which leads ones thoughts to other times," said Freij.

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