The Bench Has a Bunny Problem and Now One Fewer Agency to Help

BOISE, ID—The feral rabbit population on Boise’s Bench has no natural predator, no effective management plan, and now, one fewer organization willing to deal with it. The Idaho Humane Society has ended its rabbit program, which previously offered resources for residents dealing with the area’s well-established colonies of loose domestic rabbits. The animals—descendants of pets that were released or escaped over the years—have taken hold across the Bench and show little sign of slowing down without organized intervention. Without the Humane Society’s program, residents are largely left to navigate the situation on their own. Local animal welfare volunteers have worked to trap and rehome some rabbits, but the scale of the population makes that a slow process against a fast reproductive cycle. For anyone who has driven through the Bench at dusk and watched a dozen rabbits scatter across a front lawn, the scene is charming right up until it isn’t.