Rabbit Island
Bunnies… who doesn’t like
these little cute, fluffy and cuddly animals?
Be prepared to the
incredible: there is even an entire island where rabbits rule undisturbed… and
I’m not talking about Alice in Wonderland and the white rabbit!
Welcome to Japan’s Rabbit
Island, Okunoshima,
an island with a dark history, which is now home to hundreds of wild adorable
rabbits.
The Japanese army, during
World War II, secretly produced over 6,000 tons of lethal gas on Okunoshima,
which was even removed from maps as the mission was top-secret and they brought
a colony of rabbits to the island in order to test the effects of the poison.
It is believed that those
rabbits were all, unfortunately, killed when the island was abandoned at the end
of the war and that the rabbits that are now on the island are the descendant
of just eight rabbits, brought to the island by schoolchildren in 1971, which multiplied
until they reached their present population of several hundreds.
Read also Colourful Beaches
Now the island, a short ferry
ride from the mainland, is a popular tourist resort with a small golf course,
camping grounds, beautiful beaches and clear waters to swim in. There also tours available
to visit the now derelict poison gas facilities and the ruins of military
outposts around the island.
With the island being a
predator-free zone, these friendly fluffy rabbits are free to stretch out in the sun, walk all around, chase the tourists and appear in viral videos like this one: Rabbit Island
Have a lovely journey!
Morena Giannascoli
PS. Don't forget to share ;-)
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