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Mini LopRabbit
Cuddled up on the couch reading Alice in Wonderland

About
Miniature Lops are the most popular breed of rabbits in Australia. Although their ears are floppy and hang to the ground this doesn't impair their hearing at all. In fact, Mini Lops can often be seen pirouetting, scanning the view to see what is making that very interesting noise. Miniature Lop Rabbits are very laid back, making them an ideal children’s pet. They love attention and are always excited to get their heads scratched. They suckers for attention and will lie on your lap happily accepting pats for hours. Like all rabbits they are curious and can get up to some real antics when left to their own devices.

Type
Miniature Lop rabbits are a small breed of rabbit, and have an ideal weight of 1.5-1.6Kgs. Ideally their body should be short, broad and well muscled. Mini Lops come in a wide variety of different colours

History
The history of the Miniature Lop can be traced back to the Netherlands during the late 1940’s when Adrian de Cook had a vision to produce a miniaturised version of the much larger French Lop. The breed was originally known as the ‘Nederlandse Hangoor Dwerg’ (Dutch Little Hanging Ear). The first attempt at creating the breed was a cross mating of a French Lop Buck with a Netherland Dwarf doe. It was unsuccessful; the litter was born too large and died during the birth as late did the doe. On the second attempt the smaller Netherland Dwarf buck was crossed with the larger French Lop doe, this second attempt went well even with concerns the Netherland Dwarf might not be able to reach. This first generations ear where all erect, so one of the does was mated to an English Lop buck. The English Lop was chosen as it is smaller in size than the French Lop and has excessively long lopped ears. The second litter was born, and at five month of age all the ears where lopped. This second litter was then mated back to the first. With the next generation improving and resembling more a miniature French Lop.

By the end of 1955 Adrian had produced a several generations, each smaller than the last (they where now under 3kgs), as well as expanded the variety of colours. After 8 more years of breeding in 1964 they were accepted and standardized by the Dutch. In 1970, it was decided to reduce the standard weight of the breed to 1.5kgs.  Miniature Lops where imported to the UK in 1970, and again in the1990's. A relatively new breed to Australia they were introduced from New Zealand in 1998. They are now one of the most popular breeds globally.