Unlike the video of rabbits jumping on a trampoline, these pictures aren’t AI.
In fact, the recently viral photos of rabbits in Fort Collins, Colorado, sporting strange, almost tentacle-like horns are real. But before you go down a rabbit hole or jump to conclusions about some strange and terrifying new virus, the phenomenon actually has a simple answer.
The rabbits are suffering from cottontail rabbit papillomavirus, which is “a viral disease that causes malignant tumors to grow in rabbits, often on its head,” per PetMD. The virus is most often seen in wild rabbits, though can occur in domestic rabbits, and outbreaks usually occur in the fall and summer.
The virus is most often transmitted by biting arthropod insects such as mosquitoes or ticks.
In the case of the unlucky rabbits in Colorado, the virus has resulted in large, black and twisted growths protruding from the heads and necks of the animals.
But, despite the alarming appearance, there’s no need to put your pet—rabbit or otherwise—back in its hat.
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife department (CPW), according to local outlet KDVR, shared the public has made them aware of the diseased animals, but that the occurrence is not rare and only causes concern when the growths impede the rabbits’ ability to eat. In fact, the rabbits are sometimes able to fight the virus on their own.
“There’s no overt concern needed for pet owners,” CPW spokesperson Kara Van Hoose said, per KDVR. “We would just say to keep those wildlife principles in mind when you do have them out: Keep them on leash, keep them away from wild animals just in case, but it is not something necessarily we see transferred from rabbits to dogs.”
But the alien-like rabbits aren’t the only bunnies hopping into the news as of late. Fake heiress Anna Delvey recently sparked outrage after rabbits she’d used in a photoshoot were allegedly then dumped in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.
According to Anna—who was convicted in 2019 of grand larceny and theft of services for defrauding wealthy individuals and businesses—her assistant Christian Batty had told her that he knew someone who could lend them bunnies for the shoot.
“I later discovered that, instead of borrowing animals from a legitimate source like he claimed, he had obtained them via Facebook Marketplace and intended to release them into Prospect Park,” she wrote on her August 11 Instagram Story, “a plan of which I had no knowledge. The idea that someone would compromise the well-being of innocent animals for personal networking opportunities is deeply disturbing to me.”
Anna added she, as an “animal lover” and vegetarian, was “appalled by what transpired” and would do all she could to help rescue and rehome the animals.
E! News reached out to Christian for comment but has not heard back.
Thankfully, three of the bunnies are now in foster care with animal rescuer Terry Chao, per the New York Post, while another Instagram user confirmed her rabbit Benito “is fine at home.”
Anna, meanwhile, confirmed she’s donated $1,000 to All About Rabbits Rescue.