Alaska Rabbit 101: Part 1

Alaska Rabbits are famous for their well-rounded and balanced bodies.

Despite not being compact if compared to other rabbit breeds, the Alaska Rabbits still exhibit a balanced and strong bone development. These rabbits are often described as blocky, solid, and thickset. The males can be a bit heavier, while the females will have characteristics that will showcase a dewlap.

Compared to other similar breeds, the ears of the Alaska Rabbits are short. Their ears are also broad, held upright, and rounded at the edges. These Alaska Rabbits have short coats, but though their length is unlike the length of others, they are dense and luxurious.

On the other hand, in terms of their coloring, the Alaska Rabbits have one single color, and that is black. If you go further in the color investigation, you might notice that the fur nearest to the skin can be described as a deep slate blue, but the color changes into jet black even more towards the surface.

Additionally, their noses, their bellies, and the pads of their feet all feature a matte black hue. But, the fur towards the top and at the sides is vibrant and shiny black. Overall, the fur all over their bodies is glossy, shiny, silky, and lustrous. Some might notice some stray white hairs all over their fur, but these are far apart and only a few, without white patches, white spots, and white hairs.

Origin of the Breed.

When you hear about the breed of Alaska rabbits, you would think that this rabbit was first discovered in Alaska. But in reality, that is not the case. Alaska rabbits are actually produced by cross-breeding using Havana, Himalayan, Dutch, and Champagne d’Argent rabbits in Germany. A rabbit judge named Max Gotha created this breed through the help of a fellow breeder.

Originally, the goal of the breeders is to produce a breed that is similar to the Alaskan Fox because this breed was popular in the fur trade during the 1900s. Gotha and his partner were looking to create a breed that would showcase long white guard hairs partnered with a black coat so that they would profit from selling these pelts.

However, their plans have failed because what came out was a rabbit with an intensely dark coat. Its guard hairs were quite long, and the color it has is glossy black. But, even though their initial plans have failed, they decided to keep the breed the way it was because of the uniqueness and beauty of this breed. So, they were satisfied with the end result and quit on their plans of moving the breed in a different direction. Later on, though, they also used the Alaska Rabbit to develop the Black Rex Rabbit.

Alaska Rabbits were first presented and exhibited at a rabbit show for the first time during 1907 in Europe. Once more people were able to see this breed, it gained recognition very quickly, and the breed will eventually reach the United States and Canada. In the middle of the 1970s, the Alaska Rabbit was finally recognized as a breed.

============

Copyright Disclaimer:
We respect the copyright interests of the individual owners in the video and don't claim to own the original clips.

However, under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. The recent amendments to the Copyright Act of 1976 pertain to music. "Fair use" remains in force for film and video.