Jimmy Carter rabbit incident

April 20, 1979, White House photo of Carter and the rabbit from the Carter Library
Close up of the rabbit cropped from the White House photo

The Jimmy Carter rabbit incident, sensationalized as the "killer rabbit attack" by the press, involved a swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) that aggressively swam toward U.S. president Jimmy Carter's fishing boat on April 20, 1979. The incident caught the imagination of the media after Associated Press White House correspondent Brooks Jackson learned of the story months later.