Cat-trapping program to save marsh rabbits

BIG PINE KEY, Fla., May 20 (UPI) -- In an effort to save a small rabbit native to the Florida Keys, authorities are putting in place a program to trap feral cats in the area.

The population of marsh rabbits on Big Pine Key has dwindled by 50 percent over the last two years, The Miami Herald reported. Local authorities fear this subspecies, named Sylvilagus palustris hefneri after Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner for his 1980s efforts to help save their habitat, is in danger of disappearing altogether.

This week, authorities plan to set 30 to 40 live-traps for stray and feral cats, who are known to feed on the marsh rabbits. But, the Herald reported, some local cat-loving residents are upset about the trapping plans.

"We don't want to kill cats. We want to preserve rabbits," said Bernice Constantin, state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture unit that is implementing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife trapping program.

Once the cats are trapped, the Herald reported, they will be sent to a no-kill shelter to be spayed or neutered, and vaccinated. The most docile ones will go up for adoption. Only very sick or injured felines will be euthanized.