17 October 2008
Robben Island Museum staff and other conservationists involved in euthanasing as many as 10 000 rabbits next month will be counselled to help them deal with the trauma of the cull.
Acting chief executive Seelan Naidoo said this would be one of the aspects of what would be a complex, expensive and difficult operation.
There had been extensive discussions about how to handle the issues of the fallow deer and the rabbits on the island, a World Heritage Site, he said.
The SPCA, CapeNature and leading Cape Town animal welfare activists Cecily Blumberg and Clifton Roux had been closely involved, although they had not been present at the recent round-table meeting where the decision to cull had been finalised.
"This was a very difficult decision and I want people to know we are not committed cullers. We sat down at the round table and had a long discussion. Obviously we had done our homework and we worked through all the options.
"We really tried hard, but the meeting decided we've got to cull. There's a crisis here, we've got to act and we've got to act immediately - the problem is escalating.
"Rabbits are starving, they're being run over on the roads; I can't stand by and watch that.
"But if we cull now, we mustn't cull again - I don't want to cull every six months. We must avoid that situation.
"It is going to involve a large number of animals and it's going to be hard for those involved because they're people who (in their normal work) protect animals."
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