As Spring is slowly creeping in, we thought what better time to start our rabbit breeds series!
We begin with Lop rabbits; the name referring to any rabbit with ears that droop, as opposed to being erect on their heads.
American Fuzzy Lop
The American Fuzzy gets its name from its breeding history. Similar in appearance to the Holland Lop, this breed was engineered by American breeders; crossing the Holland Lop with the English Spot to break the colouring. They altered the fur by crossing these rabbits with the French Angora, creating a 'fuzzy' wool gene.
As you can imagine, the coat of a Cashmere Lop is long and silky. This breed requires slightly more grooming attention, especially when younger. Cashmeres were discovered in the 1980s within the nest of a Dwarf Lop, as they had noticeably longer, thicker and silky smooth fur.
Similar to the Mini Lop, the Dwarf Lop hails its heritage from bringing the dwarf gene to the French Lop. Typical weight of a Dwarf Lop is around 2kg- 2.5kg, and make good family pets.
One of the oldest (and larger) rabbit breeds, it is said that the English Lop originated from Africa. Known for their naturally large ears, cruel breeders back in the 1800s used waxing and stretching in an attempt to make their ears even larger- for the purpose of selling at a higher price. This has long since ended, so now we can adore their beautifully large lop ears!
Developed in France in the 19th Century, the French Lop was originally bred as a meat animal. This Lop differs from its English cousin as they have noticeably shorter ears, and is larger in size. These rabbits adore petting and are renowned for their docile nature.
Following from the development of other Lops, the German Lop was created as a middle counter-part between the larger English and French, to the aptly-named Dwarf Lop. The German Lop has a well recognised 'Roman' nose, and has a longer-than-bunny-average lifespan of up to 12 years.
Dutch breeder Adriann de Cock created the Holland Lop back in the 1950s by combining the French Lop and Netherlands Dwarf. Classed as a dwarf rabbit, the Holland weighs around 2kg-2.3kg, and are considered to be fairly active.
Mini Lion Lop
Still a relatively new breed, the Mini Lion Lop was developed from breeding the Lionhead with the Mini Lop in the early 2000s. Known for their recognisable mane, the Mini Lion Lop is one of the smaller breeds however loves to run and play. They are very lively, but still have good even temperaments.
Miniature Cashmere Lop
As you can guess, the Mini Lop was bred with the Cashmere Lop to create the Miniature Cashmere.
Plush Lops are also a newer breed, only dating back to the 1990s. They are bred in either standard or miniature size, and are classed as hypoallergenic due to their Rex crossbreeding. Whilst they do still shed their fur, it occurs far less and they produce less dander (the bits of skin/ fur that people are allergic to).
Still an 'unofficial' breed, the Velveteen Lop gets its name from the children's story, The Velveteen Rabbit. Their smooth, short hair descends from their Rex breeding, and crossed with the English Lop to create the long, mandolin shaped body.