Statement from Ashley Fruno, PETA's associate director of campaigns:

By perpetuating this cruel and ineffective killing cycle each Easter, the Central Otago region will only exacerbate its environmental problems. Science tells us that lethal control doesn't provide a long-term solution to invasive animal populations and, in fact, can backfire, since it creates a spike in the food supply, prompts accelerated breeding, and encourages more animals to move into the area. In any kind of animal slaughter, families are torn apart and orphaned young are left vulnerable to starvation, dehydration, and attacks by other animals. The Easter Bunny Hunt is nothing short of a massacre.

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