Airport must condemn rabbits

The Miami airport bunnies die on the runways, which draws vultures, which imperils airplanes. So, the bunnies will be shot.

©Associated Press
February 28, 2003

MIAMI -- Miami International Airport has a vulture problem. To solve it, airport officials say they will likely have to kill hundreds of rabbits.

About 500 black tail jackrabbits, a nonnative species, live in the grassy areas between runways, chasing each other and often getting crushed under aircraft tires.

"Our airside people can't bag the carcasses fast enough," said Insom Kim, an airport spokeswoman.

The rabbit carcasses draw in turkey vultures that hover above the runway and jeopardize planes landing and taking off. The buzzards collide with windshields and propellers or get sucked into jet engines.

Last year, birds slammed 12 times into airplanes at the airport. So far this year, it has happened 12 times, officials say.

Efforts to permanently scare away the birds, including using pyrotechnics, propane cannons and sirens, have failed. Animal experts say the birds have become accustomed to the measures.

Last week, the FAA told Miami International Airport that if it could not get rid of the vultures, it would have to eliminate the bird' source of food: the rabbits.

Airport officials met with animal experts and concluded that shooting the rabbits would be the best way to eliminate them for good.

"It's not an easy decision to take a life," said Bruce Drum, airport assistant aviation director. "But if you don't get every pair, they'll be back in a year."

The rabbits are not native to South Florida and no knows how they came to inhabit the airport. It's speculated that they were accidental cargo from western states. They have no natural predators inside the airport and are multiplying unabated.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has asked the airport for more time so it can find an alternative solution. "Maybe using live traps and relocation are the answer," said Stephanie Boyles, a PETA wildlife biologist.

Metrozoo spokesman Ron Magill said trapping is not an option because the rabbits breed too fast. And because they're foreign to Florida, they can't be relocated elsewhere in the state.

"They will be reproducing doubly as fast as they are being captured," he said. "As difficult as it is for me to say this -- you have to shoot them."

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