Over the next couple of weeks the council will exterminate the pesky cape bunnies above Oamaru Harbour.
The main tools will be shooting and poisoning.
The rabbit extermination is the first stage of three by the council to improve the amenity value of Cape Wanbrow over the next two months.
Waitaki district parks manager Lindsay Hyde said getting rid of the rabbits was primarily to enhance the natural environment and protect plantings.
But it had also come after "an instruction from Otago Regional Council".
The focused rabbit-kill area also included the penguin colony and a section of Waterfront Rd.
"Both poison and night shooting will be employed to reduce the population of rabbits on the cape," Mr Hyde said.
"Rabbits are a major problem for new plantings on Cape Wanbrow, especially as we seek to replace the pine stands with native plants and others."
The council would install warning signs across the rabbit control area ahead of time so the public knew to keep out.
Pindone had been determined as the most effective option for rabbit control.
Carrots laced with the poison would be laid by hand across previously identified target areas, weather permitting.
"It will be deposited in areas with high numbers of rabbits," Mr Hyde said.
"Signage will clearly indicate when poison has been set, and the dates and time of night shooting."
The council would also provide further warning and information via regular social media updates in the next few weeks.
"During this time we recommend that dogs are kept on lead at all times," Mr Hyde said.
The second stage of improvement work, to be done this month, would be to install new public information signs.
These would complement a new dedicated parking area to be built at the Test St entrance to Cape Wanbrow.
"There is currently no official parking space at this location.
"Council will be adding clearly marked spaces for the community to use at this location."
The third stage would be to fell an ageing stand of ponderosa pines between Tamar and Selwyn Sts.
This was necessary, as the trees were beginning to shed branches and were becoming unsafe.
New indigenous plantings would eventually replace the felled ponderosa, as had progressively occurred elsewhere on the cape.
Mr Hyde said dog owners particularly should take note of an information sheet the council was providing on the risks of pindone.
