Gotland rabbit
The Gotland rabbit is one of two Swedish domestic rabbit breeds that were bred from original domestic rabbit populations. The other is the Mellerud rabbit . Both breeds are called landrace in Sweden . In addition to a certain age, criteria for land breeds are the non-crossing of standardized production and exhibition breeds. Both Mellerud and Gotland rabbits are recognized as landrace by the Swedish Ministry of Agriculture ( Jordbruksverket ). In addition to the Gotland rabbit , there is a very large population of wild rabbits on Gotland ; these are called Rabbisar on the island and are not identical to the former.
The Swedish landrace rabbit, which lived between other pets (e.g. in the cowshed) on Swedish farms without special care, lost more and more importance at the beginning of the 20th century (at the latest in the post-war period) and for some time the disappearance of the Race feared. In the 1970s, Swedish breeders drew attention to a small population of the breed that had survived on the island of Gotland. An intensive search revealed other populations on the mainland. This is the basis for the preservation of today's Gotland rabbit, which is now carried out by the Föreningen Gotland rabbit, which was founded in 1984.
Adult specimens of the breed can weigh between 3 and 4 kg. The fur color varies, almost all colors present in rabbits are registered. There are no differences in weight between bucks and zips, but there are phenotypic differences between the sexes. Under the short outer hair there is a dense undercoat, rex-furry animals occur, but are rare.
The preservation of the breed and its characteristics is ensured by the Gotland Rabbit Association ( Föreningen Gotlandskaninen ) on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture through a system of (currently approx. 170 (as of March 2017)) gene banks. Currently the breed is not in acute danger.
Web links
- Föreningen Gotlandskaninen (Swedish)
- Gotland Rabbit , Schoenens Zoo (Swedish)