WILTON MANORS, Fla. — Three years ago, Local 10 News was a part of a major project to help rescue bunnies in Wilton Manors that numbered in the dozens.

But not every single rabbit was rehomed, so as you can imagine, the ones left behind have been rapidly reproducing ever since.

Now, everywhere you look in the Jenada Isle neighborhood, there are black bunnies, brown bunnies, white rabbits and even baby bunnies.

“I really like the bunnies,” said resident Trey Opp. “I mean, I don’t like that they’re free and roaming and there’s no one taking control and it’s going on and on, but I do think that they’re cute.”

Added resident David Brassil: “They breed like rabbits and they might just take over and start digging holes and ruining people’s yards and stuff like that, but they are really cute.”

While most people agree that the bunnies are adorable, the little bouncing critters can be a menace for homeowners.

“They are destroying our property,” said resident George Kvocka. I mean they are out causing damage to the property, you can see all the grass and the plants are being dug up, so its costly for neighbors to keep that up.”

Local 10 Animal Advocate Jacey Birch found holes all over the island while searching to see how many rabbits call the Wilton Manors neighborhood their home.

“I almost tripped earlier in one of their holes in my backyard so I can see why they can be a frustration,” said resident Chad Parvus.

Local 10 News’ cameras captured at least a dozen holes over two different visits, while neighbors claim there could be up to 60.

Kvocka said he feeds the bunnies daily right out of his garage, but he called the Animal Advocate team for help, not knowing where else to turn.

The history behind the bunnies in the neighborhood goes back several years, to when a breeder illegally dumped domestic rabbits in the area, and then those rabbits did exactly what rabbits do.

They reproduced.

Did you know a female rabbit can give birth to a new litter every month?

Three years ago, the city, a rabbit rescue and the residents all got together to help rehome the dumped animals along with the ones that were born there.

“They’re very difficult to keep under control and they breed like rabbits, so even if they were to pretty much get rid of most of them, as long as one or two of them stayed around, the problem would come back,” said Parvus.

Added Opp: “They took away a lot of the bunnies when they took them away back in 2023. They started reproducing, now there’s tons of babies everywhere.”

The problem is nobody really oversees the bunnies and every single time a baby is born on the island, it’s considered a feral animal.

And therein lies the problem.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said domesticated rabbits are under the jurisdiction of local governments, not the FWC.

Local 10 then reached out to the city, which said, “at this time, the city is not actively pursuing any actions related to the rabbits on the island.”

Finally, Local 10 News contacted Broward County Animal Control, which said, in part: “Our scope of services are limited to dogs and cats.”

“I see them under my deck in my backyard, I see them in neighbors’ yards, it’s just going to continue and continue until somebody does something about it,” said Opp.

Local 10 also reached out to several rabbit rescue groups, but none will accept feral rabbits living on the streets that are not domesticated.

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