Is Coco a pure bred Lionhead or a mix ?

[Coco the Lionhead Bunny]

He does not look like the Lionheads on the Internet but when I first purchased him, I was told that he was a Lionehad bunny. Is he a mix with another breed or is he a purebred?

[Reeem]

Cant see the pics try posting again.

[Sarita]

It truly is impossible to know if any rabbit is a purebred or mix…to be honest most rabbits are mixes.

He’s very cute whether or not he’s purebred or mixed though.

[Eepster]

Most pure breed rabbits do not perfectly fit the breed standard. that is why breeders call many rabbits “pet quality” and just a few “show quality.” For example, typically 1/4 of the offspring of 2 dwarfs will be “false dwarfs.” I’m not going to go into all the genetics since we don’t discuss breeding, and it’s long and complicated. It is interesting though, so if you’re curious you should google it.

Also, pure breed is barely a thing in rabbits. Many rabbit breeds including the lion head were developed in the 20th century, so you aren’t talking hundreds of generations like with dogs.

[Sindri]

Lionhead rabbits are a mix breed. Its really hard to tell with most rabbits if they are indeed a true breed. His face and tuffs of fur between his ears are features of a lionhead rabbit. Its extremely cute whatever breed of rabbit it is!

[Coco the Lionhead Bunny]

Thank you ! Also, I was wondering is he a single or a double maned lion head ?

[Eepster]

Looks single, I can’t be totally sure without full body photos though.

[MoxieMeadows]

I agree with Eepster, he definitely looks like a single mane. But the photos are a little dark so it’s kind of hard to tell. He’s adorable though, I love the little white nose!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Most ‘breeds’ in rabbits, cats, dogs, horses (all domestic animals really!) are developed from other breeds so really purebred just means you have papers -in fact in my province it’s illegal to represent an animal as purebred without papers.
I don’t even believe that the lionhead is a recognized breed yet-they may be though, it was years ago when I checked. This is going back to what I read years ago but I recall reading that there’s also two types of lionheads-North american and European-as breeders in both continents developed their own. As I understand it the NA ones are much smaller and the european ones can have an inherited gene that causes them to have seizures. I believe both were developed from angora rabbits originally.

My ‘purebred’ lionhead has long hair everywhere, not just around her neck.

[BrunosMama]

I think ARBA has acknowledged lionheads as a real breed, maybe within the last year. My husband and I joked about ” oh! Now Harley is a legitimate bunny! (He’s a lionhead)”.

[Author]

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