New Zealand

Varieties

New Zealand Red

C. P. Gilmore, was the first President of the New Zealand red club 1916. Back then, there was not yet such a thing as a New Zealand white rabbit. Cortland Palmer (C. P.) Gilmore was born in 1889 and died in 1981. He was the first president of the National New Zealand Red Rabbit Club in 1916, a precursor to the American Federation of New Zealand Rabbit Breeders. Together, with National Pet Stock Association of America founder, Charles S Gibson, Gilmore was responsible for the first New Zealand red rabbit Standard of Perfection which was adopted by the Association in 1916. From his Santa Barbara rabbitry, for many years Gilmore offered a correspondence course on raising rabbits and a 1917 hard-bound book titled “The New Zealand Red Rabbit and Rabbit Culture.”

New Zealand White

The white variety was created in 1917 by William S. Preshaw .The first litter of what will become New Zealand White rabbits were born in 1917 when a New Zealand Red doe had four albino kits, Angora was also used in the early development of the White New Zealand Variety.

Origin

New Zealand rabbits were developed in California and Indiana at the same time, from a mix of breeds, including Belgian hares and Flemish giants. Developed for their quick growth rates and meat type. New Zealand was added to the US rabbit standard in 1916. The Original Color of New Zealand was Red. Reds remained more popular for meat for some time, whites quickly caught on because of their white pelt, which could be easily dyed and was more valuable in the fur market. Blue was originally accepted in the early 1900's but then was renamed the Vienna Blue which went extinct in the USA, Blue was latter reintroduced years latter.

quick notes:

New Zealand Red was the original New Zealand .

White were developed by using several breeds including Angora

Blacks were developed using American Chinchilla and Satins.

Broken were recently added and developed by David Cardinal among other prominent breeders .

there are 5 distinct New Zealand Rabbit breeds that are recognized by ARBA. New Zealand White Rabbit in 1920 and Black New Zealands in 1958. The newest additions to the breed are the broken variety, which was accepted by ARBA in 2010 and the blue variety which had the same luck in late 2016.

Class

The New Zealand is a 6 class rabbit.