There have been sightings of cute, black bunnies scurrying around the City of Weyburn this winter, alongside the white ones. It has some people wondering if black bunnies are native to the area, as white bunnies or hares appear to be seen more often. 

Tom Perry, Wildlife Biologist with the Ministry of Environment's Fish and Wildlife Branch, said that although he hasn't seen the bunnies or "bunny rabbits" himself, and can't comment on the specific species, any mammal can have what's called a melanistic color morph.

"That just means that the black pigment in the fur is more expressed in the animal and that's just due to the genetic makeup of the animal."

Weyburn black bunny

"It's typically a recessive gene," Perry said, "So, most rabbits and hares, they won't show that black gene except for a select few and in some places, that genetic color morph is more common in the population, so there can be a few more individuals that have that, so that's a possibility."

Perry explained that native hares or rabbits that are carrying that gene are not a concern, "it's just like a black lab puppy coming from yellow lab females. It's always possible to carry that gene, but there's no concern that they're carrying any kind of disease or any kind of risk in that way."

He said that he hasn't heard of a proliferation of black bunnies over white bunnies specifically, but it's possible that they're domesticated rabbits that have been intentionally released.

In terms of feeding, Perry said that they encourage folks to not feed wildlife, he said it's best practice to manage food attractants so there isn't a proliferation of wildlife within the city.