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Nelson Mandela was held prisoner on the island off Cape Town for most of the 27 years he was in jail and it is now a museum and World Heritage Site.

But its vegetation has been ravaged by tens of thousands of wild rabbits.

A rabbit cull began last month and some 2,000 of them have been buried on the island so far.

But island acting chief executive Jatti Bredekamp says that will now change.

He said rabbits certified safe to eat would be "dressed and packaged for donation to charity," reports the Sapa news agency.

The rabbit meat is to be distributed among charities in Cape Town.

Sarah Scarth, a spokeswoman for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, SPCA, said the group's only concern was that the culling was carried out in a humane way.

"We have no problem with the animals being used for human consumption. If they can benefit the poor then that is something we are not against," she told the BBC.

Rabbits are commonly eaten in European countries but consuming the all-white meat would be new for many South Africans.

The island is said to have been populated by up to 25,000 rabbits and 500 deer, as well as feral cats.

The deer and cats are also being culled.

The island sits in the bay just seven kilometres from Cape Town's beaches and is visited by more than 1,800 tourists a day at peak times.

BBC