Photo/Illutration Rabbits inhabit Okunoshima island in Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

TAKEHARA, Hiroshima Prefecture—An animal-cruelty suspect has indicated responsibility for the deaths of dozens of rabbits on Okunoshima island, a wartime weapons production site that is now a tourist hotspot called “rabbit island,” police said.

Hiroshima prefectural police said the suspect, a 25-year-old company employee from Otsu city, was arrested at around 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 21 after he was seen kicking rabbits on a walkway of Okunoshima island in Takehara city.

A witness held down the man, and a dead rabbit was discovered nearby. He is accused of violating the Welfare and Management of Animals Law.

The suspect has admitted to “kicking rabbits in the same way several times since October last year,” according to the Takehara Police Station.

“While I felt that these rabbits were adorable, I wanted to know how rabbits would react when they were bullied,” police quoted him as saying.

According to the Environment Ministry, 77 dead rabbits were found on the island between late November last year and mid-January this year.

The small island in the Seto Inland Sea is about 4 kilometers in circumference.

It is known as the site of a poison gas factory of the imperial Japanese military. But in recent years, the island has drawn thousands and thousands of tourists because of its many rabbits.

According to the Environment Ministry’s Chugoku-Shikoku Regional Environmental Office, the rabbit population on the island is around 500.

Thirteen rabbit carcasses were found from Nov. 26 to 28 last year, 19 on Dec. 17 and 18, and 45 between Jan. 9 and 12, the office said.

Ten percent of the bodies had bone fractures, and some showed signs of bleeding.

“It is unnatural for so many carcasses to be found in such a short period of time,” the official in charge said.

After receiving a consultation from the Environment Ministry, the Takehara Police Station has started checking security camera footage on the island.

DANGERS OF HUMAN CONTACT

According to the Chugoku-Shikoku Regional Environmental Office, rabbits were brought to Okunoshima island in the 1970s.

More than a decade ago, word spread widely about the rabbit population on the island, and the number of tourists there sharply increased.

The visitors fed the animals, and the rabbit population jumped to about 1,000 at one point.

However, the number has dropped to about 500, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The rabbits on Okunoshima island understand that people give them food,” said Fumio Yamada, a visiting professor of zoology at Okinawa University and an expert on rabbit ecology. “But the rabbits are at risk of infectious diseases and abuse, so countermeasures are urgently needed.”

Yamada noted that the rabbits on the island are domesticated European rabbits.

With few natural predators, such as Japanese weasels and foxes, on the island, the rabbits can easily thrive in the environment.

As for the injuries confirmed on 10 percent of the rabbit corpses, Yamada said it is possible for the animals to break bones or bleed in fights over food or females.

“I cannot say anything for sure, but there is also a possibility of abuse by humans. It is a risk caused by the animals being too familiar with people,” he said.

About 200,000 people visited the island in 2023.

“It is difficult to take countermeasures because the island has become a tourist spot, but it may be necessary to limit the feeding and interactions with humans,” Yamada said.

(This article was written by Kai Nemoto and Hana Endo.)

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