The Easter Bunny is in many western countries what Santa Claus is to Christmas. It is also a symbol of the Easter holidays and a reminder of the arrival of spring.

As a child growing up in Australia I always looked forward to the traditional Easter egg hunt. On the morning of Easter Sunday, my brother and I would race to the garden to search for the chocolate (or carob) eggs of different sizes that the Easter Bunny had hidden.

While the eggs, wrapped in decorated metallic foil and sparkling in the light were a treat, it was the chocolate Easter bunnies that I treasured most.

When I was preparing to leave Australia for Iceland just before Easter three years ago, I tried to find some typically Australian gifts for my boyfriend’s family in Iceland. The stores were filled with chocolate Easter eggs and bunnies?all of which I thought would be available in Iceland.

(I later found out that the Easter Bunny isn’t celebrated in Iceland, and that the candy-filled chocolate eggs produced here, despite being outrageously expensive, are superior to anything found back home?they even include a strip of paper with a proverb or saying. I also learnt that in some other European countries, such as France, children believe that chocolate eggs fall from flying church bells.)

So I bought the Australian alternative to the Easter Bunny, the Easter Bilby. The bilby is an endangered desert-dwelling native marsupial which looks like a big rat with rabbit-sized ears, similar to a bandicoot. Chocolate bilbies are sold around Easter to raise money and awareness for the “Save the Bilby” campaign.

Since the Easter Bunny doesn’t exist in Iceland, several of my Icelandic friends have expressed bemusement over the association of rabbits with Easter. Of course this had never occurred to me, but when it comes to celebrating rabbits in Australia, this is in fact ironic.

The reason is that rabbits are a major pest in the country?keeping them as a pet is even illegal in one state. Twenty-four rabbits were introduced to the country in 1859 by English settlers for hunting.

By the 1920s, they numbered 10 billion, causing major implications for the natural environment as they compete with native animals for shelter and food, threaten native plants and have cost the country up to AUD 1 billion (USD 712,000, EUR 540,000) a year in agricultural production losses and control costs.

According to the Foundation for Rabbit-free Australia, in 2007, 121 plant species, 17 bird species, 13 mammal species, four reptile species, one fish species and one insect species that were considered to be vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered native species were threatened by rabbits. According to the foundation, as few as two to three rabbits per hectare is enough to have a drastic affect on biodiversity.

Different methods to attempt to control the animal’s presence in the Australian outback have been tested over the years. In 1950, a rabbit-borne disease was released into the rabbit population causing it to drop from around 600 million to 100 million.

To coincide with the 150-year anniversary of the introduction of rabbits to Australia this year, the “Rabbit scan challenge” has been set up to try and record the number of rabbits inhabiting certain areas. The goal is to try to eradicate between 90 and 95 percent of the population in the hope of permanently controlling the population.

The authorities in Australia are serious about getting rid of these hazardous creatures, which otherwise are considered cute and cuddly. The Easter Bilby is also doing its part by promoting the damage that rabbits are having on the Australian environment.

Whether you believe chocolate Easter eggs come from rabbits, bilbies or ringing bells, happy Easter to you all!

Zoë Robert – zoe_robert3@hotmail.com