2019

Bunnies' Meadow Recreation Site has been Destroyed

At the end of last week, unknown vandals destroyed the well-maintained JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM) recreation site “Bunnies' Meadow” (Zaķu pļava), which is located in Jelgava Municipality.

The vandals have damaged the information stand at the entrance to the meadow, while the information stand on the castle mound is completely destroyed. Wooden railings in a length of about 30 metres that once laid around the viewing area for tourist safety have been torn off and thrown into the slope of the castle mound. The police have initiated criminal proceedings for vandalism and damage to property.

Already on Monday afternoon, LVM employees arrived at the recreation site to clean up the area. The information stands and their fastenings will be restored in the near future, while one of the most special symbols of the Bunnies' Meadow - the wooden bunny sculpture - that was thrown into the river has suffered severely and, according to Tērvete woodcarving workshop experts, can no longer be repaired.

“Unfortunately, this is not the first case of vandalism in this popular holiday destination. In April last year, a wooden toilet cubicle was thrown into River Vilce,” says Guntis Dude, LVM Zemgale Region Tērvete District Forester.

For a long time, this place has been popular with holidaymakers to enjoy nature, explore the forest, enjoy sports activities, have a meal and relax in one of the wooden infrastructure facilities available for free equipped with tables, canopies and camp-fires. LVM maintains and builds more than 350 similar recreational sites throughout Latvia, which are highly valued by nature friends and families with children. Therefore, if anyone has information about vandalism in the Bunnies' Meadow or has become an eyewitness to other damage to recreation sites, please report it to LVM employees and the police.

The Bunnies' Meadow is located in Vilce Nature Park near the castle mound, where there once was the fortification of the ancient Semigallians; at its foot, River Vilce and River Rukūze meet. The story of the emergence of the name of the meadow comes from a legend associated with Easter. In the Easter morning, girls of Vilce Manor went to River Vilce to wash their mouths. Coming from the ravine of River Vilce, they saw that the meadow was full of bunnies and the girls cried out: “This looks like a real bunnies' meadow!” That is how the Bunnies' Meadow got its name.