Andrés “Kiro” Yakin, a Mexican student studying veterinary medicine and zootechnics, is working on genetically engineering a larger version of the Flemish Giant, a breed of rabbit that is already considered the largest of its species.
Yakin, who attends the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) on the Xicotepec campus, said he was assigned a genetics project for school and decided to cross a long-bodied Flemish Giant with medium-sized ears with a rabbit that had longer ears. The result was a massive rabbit with longer ears and a shinier coat.
The 21-year-old Yakin is from Huachinango in the state of Puebla. He’s been raising and selling rabbits for a couple of years. He says they are good pets because they do not hop.
The average Flemish Giant weighs 15lbs and can grow to as much as 22 lbs. Yakin’s rabbits are on the heavier side, between 20-22 lbs. He says he is trying to figure out how to increase their size even more.
“I am currently studying genetics to see how to make this breed of giant rabbits grow more,” he said.
Yakin believes that through genetics alone, he might be able to get a Flemish Giant to as much as 30 lbs. Right now, the only thing that is stopping him from creating an army of big bunnies is monetary support. He would like to build a large farm for his rabbits, so he’s looking for financial help from an institution.
Currently, the only support he has to feed the 50 giant rabbits he currently owns is from his parents. That’s a lot of carrots.