In Sweden, bunny bodies become biofuel

Good news for Stockholm’s energy providers: It’s wabbit season!

To solve the problem of rabbits running rampant in Stockholm’s parks, the city employs hunters to cull the bunny population. The hunts are typically held in the morning, when the critters — many of which are descended from discarded pets — peek out of their holes. Autumn, specifically, is good hunting because the wittle hoppers are easier to spot in the thinning foliage.

From the Local:

Every year, the city of Stockholm kills off thousands of rabbits in an effort to protect trees and shrubbery in the city’s extensive network of parks and green space.According to Tommy Tuvunger with the Stockholm Traffic Office, the agency responsible for controlling the city’s rodent and wild animal population, part of the problem rests with delinquent pet owners who decide to release their rabbits into the city’s parks.“Many of the released rabbits are tame,” he told the newspaper…

Tuvunger explained that it doesn’t take many newly released rabbits to do what rabbits are known for doing, much to the detriment of Stockholm’s efforts to control the size of its rabbit population.“People who think that the bunnies are cute and cuddly suddenly don’t think they’re as fun anymore and put the animals outside. They think: ‘there they can play with the other rabbits’,” he said.

The cull is considered unnecessary (and probably barbaric) by animal lovers. And that’s where this story would end on a normal day. But wait, there’s more:

Last year marked a new record for Stockholm’s rabbit cull, with nearly 6,000 rabbits, mostly from Kungsholmen, being removed from Stockholm’s parks. But rather than simply disposing of the dead rabbits, the city instead froze them for eventual transport to a special heating plant in Karlskoga in central Sweden, where the bunny bodies are then burned as a form of bioenergy.

It’s not quite Soylent Green, but, sure, it’s a little unnerving.

Stockholm’s bunnies burned to keep Swedes warm | The Local.