Ear she is, weighing in at a whopping three stone...........

• aremeis

  26 Mar 08, 23:33

  Ear she is, weighing in at a whopping three stone, meet the world's biggest bunny

  In her quest to breed the world's biggest rabbit, Annette Edwards has struck 24-carrot gold.

   

  Three-year-old Amy, a Continental Giant, now weighs three and a half stone and is 4ft from the tip of her nose to her bumper bobtail.

  Huge: Amy the rabbit, from Worcester, weighs in at almost three stone - making her the world's biggest. She is pictured with her owner Annette Edwards

  Thanks to her huge appetite, she is almost a stone heavier and six inches longer than the previous record holder Roberto, also owned by Mrs Edwards.

   

  Both of them dwarf a previous pretender to the throne, a German chap nicknamed Herr Rabbit which was officially a mere 22lb and 3ft 1in.

  It won't be long, however, before Amy has to surrender her title.

  She and Roberto have been busily breeding in their reinforced hutch at their home in Worcester, and Mrs Edwards is confident that one of their 32 offspring will turn out even larger.

  The reversal of fortunes in the battle of the superbunnies has astonished the owner of the heavyweight pair.

  It was in 2004 that the Daily Mail highlighted Roberto, who was 3ft 6in from back legs to front paws and weighed an astonishing 35lb – heavier than the average three-year-old child.

  Giant bunny Amy dwarfs a normal-sized rabbit

  At that time Amy, who is a year Roberto's junior, was a mere 18 inches long and weighed just over a stone. Two years later Roberto fought off challenges to his title from a German giant called Rudi, who weighs 22 pounds and measures a mere 3ft 1ins in length.

   

  But the four-year-old buck was finally overtaken by his mate Amy last month. The doe is now so huge that she has to sleep in an outside dog kennel.

  Every day she chomps through enough rabbit food to fill a dog's bowl, as well as two apples, a handful of carrots, half a cabbage and fresh hay.

  But Mrs Edwards, 55, of Worcester, who spends £10 a day on Amy's food, claims that she is not overweight and eats healthily.

  She said: "I never thought I would see it but Amy is now officially bigger than Roberto. "She is enormous but not because she over eats on junk but because she gets plenty of exercise and eats very healthily.

  Huge: Amy the rabbit, from Worcester, weighs in at almost three stone - making her the world's biggest. She is pictured with her owner Annette Edwards

  Not a (cabbage) patch on Amy: The German giant

  "Amy is a fussy eater, the carrots must have their green tops still on, and the hay has to be fresh and green or she won't go near it."

  Now Mrs Edwards hopes that the next record holder will be one of Roberto and Amy's 32 offspring. Both rabbits were bought from a breeder in Holland while Mrs Edwards was running the Bunnyland pet shop in Worcester.

  Two years ago, Mrs Edwards arranged a wedding ceremony for the pair inviting 100 guests to attend the ceremony near her Worcestershire home.

  She added: "Luckily there are no jealousy issues - they get on fine. We do have to keep them separate because if they come to together they start mating - like rabbits.

  "She is a dopey thing to be honest, she loves children and she loves attention and she adores my other pets.

  "The next record holder will be one of their children - which are all big but still have some growing to do.

  "I love the rabbits and I seriously doubt there is a bigger pair in the world right now. They certainly are an incredible pair of bunnies!"

  Thumping great: Two-stone Humphrey with owner Colin Dunigan

   

  Source: Daily Mail UK, Mar. 26, 2008