Motorway no place for bunny business

The rabbit that set up house beside an on-ramp. Photo / Supplied

A hunt is on for the owner of a pet rabbit rescued from a makeshift home beside one of Auckland's busiest motorway interchanges.

Network engineers responsible for keeping traffic flowing picked up the animal because drivers were stopping on a motorway ramp at Northcote Rd to try to catch it, causing congestion.

Anneliese Sabrowski, who pulled off the rescue with fellow Auckland Motorway Alliance (AMA) engineer Rick Gardner, said a contractor told them the brown and white rabbit had made a home for itself in a planted area beside the southbound on-ramp.

"It was obviously not wild," said Ms Sabrowski, whose organisation is contracted to the Transport Agency. "It was very friendly and I was able to feed it out of my hand."

But the animal was difficult to catch and had to be distracted by food.

Mr Gardner said it was good to be involved in a pursuit with a happy ending.

"The AMA's job is to maintain and operate Auckland's motorway network and, sadly, in a high-speed environment like that, we are often recovering family pets that don't survive."

Ms Sabrowski is caring for the rabbit after calls to North Shore veterinarians and the SPCA drew blanks in a search for its owner.

If that person cannot be found, the pet will be given a permanent home with other motorway alliance staff.

The alliance asks anyone with information about the rabbit's owner to call (09) 5200 200.