Wild boars found preying on live rabbits on island in Hiroshima Pref.: research
TAKEHARA, Hiroshima -- Researchers have confirmed cases of wild boars preying on live rabbits on Okunoshima, a Hiroshima Prefecture island known as "R
Researchers have confirmed instances of wild boars preying on live rabbits on Okunoshima, an island in Hiroshima Prefecture colloquially known as Rabbit Island. A team comprising researchers from Fukushima University and Kure College of the National Institute of Technology released a study in the summer about the impact of feeding animals at popular tourist locales on local ecosystems.
The study urged measures such as tourists not leaving food intended for rabbits behind. Okunoshima, with a perimeter of about 4 kilometers, is home to over 500 rabbits. The Takehara Municipal Government, which governs the island, notes that around the 1970s, several rabbits were brought from the mainland, became feral, and reproduced.
Upon visiting the island mid-September, a wild boar was observed drinking from a plastic container meant for rabbit water and two others appeared unconcerned about surrounding people. Research indicated one wild boar was seen in March 2024 rolling a live male rabbit, slamming it against stone steps, and carrying it into the forest.
In 2017, a similar incident was documented. Wild boars have been observed consuming animal carcasses, but confirmed cases of them attacking and preying on live rabbits are rare globally. The research posits that the boars' behavior may stem from their search for leftover vegetables and other rabbit food provided by tourists, alongside the abundance of rabbit carcasses.
The team suggests that the boars might have begun exploring the island in pursuit of leftovers and carcasses, inadvertently attacking rabbits in the process. Okunoshima is a tourist hotspot drawing around 200,000 visitors annually from Japan and abroad. According to the Chugoku-Shikoku Regional Environment Bureau, wild boars began appearing on the island roughly 15 years ago, with their population size remaining unverified.
Team member Shingo Kaneko, a Fukushima University professor specializing in conservation biology, warned that wild boars could pose future threats to humans. He emphasized that tourists' feeding of rabbits impacts vegetation and the behavior of other wildlife. Kaneko stressed the need to understand this ecological issue from a long-term perspective, affecting the entire island ecosystem.
The research findings were published in the Journal of Ecotourism, an international academic journal.
Written by urgent.news from The Mainichi's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
