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26 March 2016

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When you hear the words “hunt” and “Easter” in the same sentence, you usually picture little kids with pastel-colored baskets frolicking around in a picturesque yard, the echoes of their giggles bouncing off trees that sway in the breeze and the scent of blooming flowers lingering in the air while they scour the grounds for little plastic eggs filled with candy and other treats.

However, if you reside on New Zealand’s South Island, “Easter hunt” has a completely different meaning. On Easter weekend, over 300 people will invade the Central Otago district to literally hunt rabbits as a free service to the farmers in the district. This is the 25^th year of the annual bunny bloodshed, and teams with intimidating names like the Wabbit Warriors and Hopper Stoppers are preparing for bunny battle.

And because safety is clearly a concern here, officials have reminded the teams to stick to their designated blocks of land, not get drunk and shoot firearms, and drive safely.

Rabbits are destructive to crops and farmland, and the New Zealand Department of Conservation describes them as “very significant agricultural and ecological pests,” so I guess there is SOME point to the bunny bloodbath that’s happening on the weekend bunnies are idolized.

http://www.obsev.com/life/new-zealand-hath-no-heart-schedules-annual-rabbit-hunt-easter-weekend.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=bitly

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Ten thousand rabbits shot in New Zealand Easter hunt

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SYDNEY – Hunting for chocolate eggs is popular Easter event, but in New Zealand it was bunnies in the firing line at an annual rabbit-shooting event in one district where they are regarded as pests.

Ten thousand rabbits were shot by more than 300 hunters in 27 teams during the 24-hour “bunny hunt”, which began on Good Friday. Among the hunters were a few ferrets, according to organizer Eugene Ferreira.

Ferriera, 49, president of the Alexandra Lions Club, said the event had been running annually for 25 years in the Central Otago district, and was organized after rabbits – an introduced species – developed immunity to poison.

“It’s a big fun event – hunters are out and awake all night,” he said.

Ferreira said the rabbits were a “very, very big problem” for farmers because they cause erosion and eat crops, particularly carrots and cauliflower.

http://www.todayonline.com/world/ten-thousand-rabbits-shot-new-zealand-easter-hunt

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