The kiwi makes a far better Easter icon.
Rabbits are noxious pests that do huge harm to our environment.
Easter portrays them as cute, fluffy-tailed and harmless creatures, but presenting them in this way undermines the efforts of farmers and environmentalists to control their numbers. Adopting the kiwi as New Zealand's Easter icon would help highlight the plight of the bird and enhance its protection. Today the population is about 75,000 and this is halving every decade. Introduced predators, like possums, stoats, ferrets, cats and dogs are the main threat. The kiwi has also suffered from a huge loss of its natural habitat and is in real danger of disappearing from mainland New Zealand.