Since New Zealand rabbits are as American as sliced bread, why are they called New Zealand Rabbits?
A printed article about New Zealand Red Rabbits circulated in 1918 about rabbits imported from New Zealand to California. The article connected them to the newly developing breed of rabbits known as New Zealands. While the alleged imports may or may not have contributed to the breed that would bear their name, the establishment of the New Zealand Rabbit is now understood to be a completely American story, since the breed arose in multiple locations concurrently across the USA, with or without any New Zealand imports. New Zealand Whites first showed up in the nestbox of a New Zealand Red doe in 1917. Four albino bunnies showed up in the same litter of seven kits. The fact that one was a buck and three were does looks to me like a gold-embossed invitation for the development of a new variety – White New Zealands. Apparently the breeder, Mr. William Preshaw, thought so, too … Two years later, in 1919, Mr. Preshaw showed his “White New Zealands” at the Stockton, California Fair. They wer
