Call for cull of rabbits eating grazing land at Ness

An estimated 28,000 rabbits have been blamed for damaging livestock grazing land and other grassy areas in a part of the Western Isles.

Islanders have called for a cull to reduce the numbers of the animals in Ness on Lewis.

Local councillor Kenny MacLeod said the rabbits posed a serious threat to machair, coastal meadows used for grazing and making fodder.

He said the rabbits could be reduced by 75% but would not be eradicated.

Mr MacLeod told BBC Radio nan Gàidheal that the cull could be done along similar lines as one on Canna, the most westerly of the Small Isles of the Inner Hebrides.

There the National Trust for Scotland reduced the island's population of more than 16,000 rabbits.

Burrowing by rabbits was blamed for a landslide that affected a main road on the isle in 2013. Rabbit digging had also damaged archaeological sites.

Some of the rabbits that were killed on Canna were sold by islanders to restaurants in France.

Not all the rabbits were taken because they are source of food for eagles that nest on the island.

Mr MacLeod said: "The problem is so bad - there are tens of thousands of them in the Ness area.

"Over the last six to eight years nothing much has been happening to reduce their numbers."

He said if action was not taken to control the rabbits there would be no land left for grazing sheep and cattle.

Grass around houses was also being lost to rabbits, the councillor said.

He said shooting and ferreting by a skilled rabbit catcher could bring down the estimated 28,000 animals to a more manageable number.