The neverending story

You are a hawk.
You land, sharply beside the rabbit.
"You're human too?"
"Oh, thank God! If you'd been a true hawk, I would be dead right now."
You tell the rabbit your name, and ask what's going on.
The rabbit is happy to talk to you. "I'm Sean. I've been living in this forest for 17 days now. There are quite a few of us. People turned into animals, I mean. We've been working together to try to survive, but it's been tough, what with the non-talking animals, and all. Our leader is an owl named Lawrence. He was one of the first to arrive and not get eaten by something. Would you like me to introduce you to him? He's really bright."