Mini Lop
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mini Lop is a very popular rabbit breed that is featured in numerous rabbit shows throughout the United States. In the USA, it is the second smallest Lop overall, as well as the smallest non-dwarfed lop. It is a different breed from the Holland Lop, which is the smallest (and only dwarf lop) of lop breeds in the USA. Its equivalent in the UK is the Dwarf Lop; however there is a breed called the Miniature Lop in that area, which is the equivalent of the Holland Lop here in the United States.
The main characteristics of this breed of rabbit is a short massive-looking body, a big, blocky head, lopped ears, and thick, soft fur. Breeders attempt to make it feel like a basketball with legs, a head, and a tail. Ideally this rabbit should resemble a Bulldog in appearance.
Bob Herschbach discovered the Mini Lop breed at a German National Rabbit Show in Essen, Germany in 1972, where it was known as a Klein Widder. These first Mini Lops were originated from the German Big Lop and the small Chinchilla. These two breeds came originally in Agouti and white colors.
German lops were about 8 lb (3.6 kg), slender and large with a snipey head and thick ears. Herschbach, a Mini Lop promoter, achieved the first procreation of Mini Lops in the United States, mainly through breeding an agouti lop pair and a white female lop in 1972. Their first baby lops were solid colors. A second generation came with broken colors. As a result of the breeding process, they began to obtain a high standard of qualities Mini Lop.
In 1974, when Herschbach's Mini Lop rabbits made their debut in an American Rabbit Breeders' Association (ARBA) convention held in Ventura, California. The outcome was that the breed needed to be downsized to a more compact, attractive size. In order to achieve this, Herschbach enlisted the assistance of other breeders by letting them breed more of his Mini Lops. One final touch resulted in changing the breed name from Klein Widders to "Mini Lop" to make it more appealing to the public.
In 1977 the Mini Lop breed was under new sponsorship; Herb Dyke was the person in charge of this task.
In 1978, Herschbach and Dyke created a correspondence club for the Mini Lops. Within a year, they had over 500 members who had contacted the ARBA with support for the Mini Lop rabbit. In 1980, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the National Rabbit Convention, this breed marked its success when it was recognized as an official rabbit breed sanctioned by ARBA.
Shortly after, the Mini Lop Club of America was founded to promote it.
[edit] In popular media
Bun-bun, the obligatory cute talking animal of the popular web comic Sluggy Freelance, is a Mini Flop rabbit. In addition to being cute and able to talk, Bun-bun has a keen mind, a bad attitude, and a switchblade. Bun-bun's origin probably lies in the comic's creator, Pete Abrams, attempting to humorously juxtapose a cute animal with a personality that was quick to resort to dry-witted disrespect and violence. The mini lop has since become one of Sluggy Freelance's most popular characters.
