Because wild animals are not pets. Wild animals do not want to be petted. Wild animals do not find comfort in being petted. Just because they don't run away doesn't mean they're enjoying it.
Not to mention they fact that any mammal can carry rabies as well as a wide variety of other disease. You don't know if that rabbit is going to run around and bite you, so why would you want to risk it? Why would you teach your children that this is something that's ok to do?
I'm sorry, but wild animals don't have a voice of their own, so someone needs to speak for them. People need to show more respect for wild animals by leaving them wild. I'm done, I've said my piece.
Not to turn this into a crazy animal debate, but this just isn't 100% accurate. I have wild rabbits living in the brush around my yard at home. They are terrified of people. Won't come near us. We don't feed them, they avoid us. End of story. The rabbits at Pop? If they come near people, their fear instincts have already gone. This means that they are essentially domesticated animals, virtually the same as a pet rabbit. If a small, fast animal like a rabbit or a squirrel did not enjoy the human interaction, or did not enjoy the petting, they'd run away immediately. We're not talking about someone sneaking up on one and snatching it up, we're talking about the animal voluntarily accepting the contact/feeding.
Rabid animals will act erratic and aggressive. However, small rodents (squirrels, mice, chipmunks) and rabbits/hares almost
never contract/transmit rabies. If they do contract it, they are not known to actually infect humans. The larger, potentially aggressive animals (raccoons, dogs, wolves, cats) are the ones that contract and infect - it's typically carnivores, not herbivores. You're at a far greater risk of getting rabies from your cat or dog than any "wild" animal at WDW.
All this being said, unless an animal is a pet that's been sheltered with human care since birth, there are risks interacting with them. It's also potentially detrimental to the ecosystem, as I imagine that an influx of rabbits on WDW property could draw predators. And there's always the possibility of these animals carrying germs or other junk on their fur and mouths (you should absolutely have something to wash up with immediately after contact - just like you should/would with a pet that's been playing outside or at a petting zoo like Rafiki's Planetwatch).
However, there is virtually NO (as in zero) risk with interacting with rabbits on WDW property. There's virtually zero chance of rabies (perhaps even literally zero chance), as well as the fact that rabbits will absolutely run away if they are the least bit uncomfortable with the human interaction. If they act fearful, lost, confused, jittery, etc, then that would be an indication of an uncomfortable animal. If they are gladly accepting food from your hand or staying with you during gentle contact, then they are perfectly happy with it.
I still wouldn't recommend it. It's probably better not to feed/pet them. But let's not misinform... Interacting with a rabbit at WDW is probably one of the safest things you can do. It's not dangerous or harmful to either the animal or the person, but you definitely want to wash up thoroughly
right afterwards.
