Tentacle bunny virus rebrands jackalopes in viral trend

A strange virus causing skin-and-nail-like tumors in cottontails has captured the internet’s imagination, thrusting Colorado’s wildlife into the spotlight over something far from new.

“It’s hard to surprise biologists, but they were a little bit surprised by the attention. Why this?” said Kara Van Hoose, a public information officer with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Headlines have been flooding the internet this month describing “zombie rabbits” with tentacles and horns. However, most growths are benign unless growing in sensitive areas like the eyes or mouth. The cause of the lesions that resemble horns is the Shope papilloma virus (SPV), a virus related to the human papillomavirus (HPV) that infects species of rabbits and hares. All three species of cottontail rabbits in Colorado are affected: mountain (Sylvilagus nuttallii), desert (S. audubonii) and eastern (S. floridanus) cottontails. The disease is transmitted by biting insects but is not readily transmissible to humans or pets.

Despite the media frenzy, Van Hoose admits that she has never seen an infected rabbit in the wild, although this newfound attention has her looking more closely, trying to catch a glimpse of a rabbit with horns—along with the rest of the public.

“I think it raises a level of awareness in the community, so then you start getting more calls about it,” Van Hoose said, adding that the agency is recording the instances of the infections that concerned citizens have been calling in and balancing the media attention.

Humans have long been fascinated by unexpected wonders, like the images of strange horned rabbits of the early 1600s. The stories of rabbits infected with Shope virus and horns likely inspired mythical creatures such as the jackalope in North America and the wolpertinger in Germany. Published studies of the virus date to 1933, when scientists discovered it in wild cottontails and described it. Since then, SPV has become a model virus to aid in the development of the HPV vaccine, which can cause smaller warts or lesions in humans but nothing comparable to the SPV’s horns.

“Nature can do cool things and things we wouldn’t expect,” Van Hoose said.

Despite the sensational headlines, the story of Colorado’s horned rabbits is a fascinating reminder of how nature’s mysteries can blur the line between myth and science, inviting us to look closer and appreciate the wonders hidden in the everyday.