By Floro Mercene
It is a small island located in the Inland Sea of Japan. It is called by the nickname “Usagi Jima” by Japanese people, which translates to “Rabbit Island”. The island is a short ferry ride (about 10 minutes) from the mainland and it has a small golf course, camping grounds and beautiful beaches.
Hundreds of wild rabbits are roaming around the forests and paths or just lounging around when they are not chasing tourists. With their long, floppy- ears, short-fluffy- tails, they are tender and lovely. Though they are feral, a herd of rabbits will swarm you for feeds.
How these bunnies ended up on this tiny island is a bit of a mystery. The island has a dark history as the production site for Japan’s chemical weapons during the World War II. Between1929-1945, the Japanese army secretly produced thousands of tons of poison gas on this island. It was kept so secret the island was even removed from all Japanese maps.
When the army began manufacturing chemical weapons, rabbits were brought to the island and used to test the effectiveness of the poison gas. This gave rise to the belief that workers may have released the captive animals onto the island following the war. However, one source said that all test rabbits were euthanized by the Americans when they came to the island during the Occupation.
The other theory is that eight rabbits were brought to the island by schoolchildren in 1971, where they bred. With the island being a predator-free zone – dogs and cats are banned, and since rabbits are a prolific breeder, they might have reached their current population.
Since the start of tourist arrival boom in 2014, the rabbit population is increasing, which resulted to lack of vegetation. With the inappropriate food that tourists provide, the rabbits suffer from a variety of health problems, researchers say.