Hugh Hefner sends help for feral cats (and bunnies)

While Playboy bunnies live relatively carefree lives, the Lower Keys marsh rabbits named after Playboy founder Hugh M. Hefner are not so lucky — and he's coming to the rescue. The scientific name given to the endangered rabbits is Sylvilagus palustris hefneri, honoring Hefner, who put money toward research identifying the subspecies in 1980. The rabbits' drastic decline in the National Key Deer Refuge — and refuge officials' upcoming efforts to trap feral cats that are preying on them — has gotten national attention.

"It has recently come to my attention that marsh rabbits ... in the [National Key Deer Refuge] have become endangered, and as a response, feral cats in the area may ultimately be euthanized," Hefner said in a statement released by his publicist, Rob Hilburger. "I have made a contribution to Stand Up for Animals, a local nonprofit that operates two animal shelters in the Florida Keys. It's an organization on the front lines, which I'm confident will provide the greatest chance of saving both the rabbits and the cats."

The amount of the donation was not disclosed.

Hefner's action comes after Linda Gottwald, director of Stand Up For Animals, voiced her concern about the feral cats on the Playboy Sirius radio station Friday morning.

Wildlife officials say the dark brown, medium-sized, cotton-tailed rabbits' population has dwindled over the past two years and that the animal, put on the federal endangered species list in 1990, could be wiped out if nothing is done.

Refuge officials plan to begin trapping feral cats on Big Pine Key starting Monday in an effort to protect marsh rabbits, silver rice rats and other animals and birds. The feral cats will be trapped alive and brought to local animal shelters before they are relocated. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently received $50,000 to remove the cats from federal refuges on Big Pine and Key Largo.

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