The Flemish Giant rabbit is a very large breed of domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus), normally considered to be the largest breed of the species. Flemish Giants are historically a utility breed bred for fur and meat.
A Mexican veterinary and zootechnics student is using genetics techniques to grow a new family of the world's largest rabbit breed - the Flemish Giant - at his small farm in Huachinango, as seen on Thursday.
The animals bred by Kiro Yakin are between 6 and 10 kilos (13 and 22 lbs) and can be white, black, brindle or blue.
"The Flemish Giant rabbit is one of the largest by nature. It is considered the basketball player of the rabbits. To reach this size they are not fed with any transgenic or any chemical", explains the 21-year-old scholar.
Yakin said his goal is to get the pets to reach up more than ten kilos, which is the standard limit in nature for the Giant Flemish rabbit.
"I want to rescue this breed of rabbits and make it known to people. I want people to notice that there is not only one breed of rabbits, but there are many of them and some are very fantastic such as the Flemish Giant rabbit," the student added.
Besides a great purpose, Yakin's job pays back well. The price of each animal varies depending on age and size between 700 and 4,000 Mexican pesos (30 to 170 euros / 35 to 200 US dollars). Kiro currently has an eight-month waiting list for those wishing to get a unique giant pet.
