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The Enderby Island Rabbit, or simply Enderby Rabbit, is a rare breed of domesticated European Rabbit originating from rabbits introduced to Enderby Island, an uninhabited subantarctic island in New Zealand’s Auckland Islands group, from Australia in October 1865 to serve as castaway food. Over 130 years the isolated population became a distinctive variety. The rabbits were eventually exterminated for wildlife management reasons from Enderby Island in the early 1990s, but a breeding group of 49 rabbits was rescued by the Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand in September 1992.
Description
Enderby Island Rabbits are mainly silver-grey in colour, with an undercoat of dark slate-blue. Their heads, ears and tails are very dark, sometimes black. Because of a recessive gene, a small proportion of the rabbits are born cream or beige in colour. Adult rabbits weigh about 2 kg.
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