The mystery of the deaths on Rabbit Island is solved (6 photos)

You don't know, but in Japan there was a short-lived, but mystical and creepy story - why do these very rabbits die on the rabbit island!?





Cute rabbits against the backdrop of abandoned laboratories, their own atmosphere

Strange hunt on Rabbit Island

There is an island inhabited by rabbits that multiplied after people left the island. In particular - scientists from the laboratory, who bred these rabbits for testing. It turned out that rabbits can breed themselves. And since then, about 1,000 rabbits have lived on Okunoshima Island (15 minutes by ferry from the mainland).

And for 2 months in a row, tourists began to notice dead rabbits, which had not been seen in such numbers before. The caretakers removed them so as not to frighten the tourists, and in the end, they counted about 77 such strange deaths.



The rabbits lived and knew no fear until he appeared...

"Since November last year, mysterious mass deaths have occurred among the Okunoshima rabbits. There was a possibility that it was an infectious disease, but given the circumstances, we thought that the mass deaths were probably caused by humans."

And here's the mystery - one man regularly sailed as a tourist to the island to... kick rabbits. It turned out to be Riku Hotta, a 25-year-old office worker from the city of Otsu. Not some marginal, but a man with a position.





I'm more amused by the entourage of an abandoned factory inhabited by rabbits

He was arrested and charged with violating the Animal Welfare Act for kicking a rabbit and passersby noticed. The animal was later found dead.

Hotta was spotted killing a rabbit by photographer Takayuki Nakamura, who has been documenting the island's rabbits with his wife for 25 years.



Can rabbits all attack and bite a person together!? I feel uneasy around them

The rangers actually found seven dead rabbits on the day of Riku Hotta's visit to the island. The last ferry from the island had not yet departed, but the rangers had no evidence to charge the visitor.

They had to hide in the bushes and wait. The photographer filmed Riku trying to lure the rabbit closer with a piece of carrot. But as soon as other people showed up, he would drop all the food and leave.



If there were 1,000 rabbits, he thought no one would notice 70 of them were killed?

It was only after several hours of observation that the photographer was able to record Riku finally finding a lone rabbit and kicking it hard. The photographer then immediately called the police and detained the man until they arrived.

I'm not ashamed

The kicker confessed to killing the rabbit, telling officers "there was no mistake in the arrest." He claimed he was also responsible for the deaths of the other animals.



Draw me like one of your French girls! (c)

"Although I think rabbits are cute, I was also curious how they would react if I bullied them."

At the same time, the rabbits on the island are very friendly, they are used to tourists bringing them food, so they often jump after a person to feed them. So they literally went out to meet their death.

All of Japan was glad that the mysterious deaths of rabbits were solved and this is not a dangerous virus that would kill all the animals. And at the same time I was very saddened that the man simply went to have fun killing on a harmless island. If he had done something like that on a Japanese island of cats, he would probably have been lynched on the spot.