How endangered is the English Lop?
In Germany, the English Lop is classed as critically endangered (German: „extrem gefährdet“). That is the highest category of the German Red List of native livestock breeds, the country’s official list of endangered farm animal breeds. It is published by the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE). For rabbits, it is compiled by the Small Animals Working Group together with the ZDRK, Germany’s national association of pedigree rabbit breeders, and the GEH, the German society for the conservation of old and endangered livestock breeds.
Until 2021 the breed was still classed as “highly endangered”. Since the reassessment in 2023 it has been “critically endangered”, and the 2025 Red List confirmed this. According to the BLE, the main reason is that there are fewer and fewer breeders.
| Census year | Bucks | Does | Breeders | Classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 115 | 148 | 68 | highly endangered |
| 2021 | 113 | 138 | 67 | critically endangered |
| 2023 | 69 | 92 | 49 | critically endangered |
The count covers the original colour varieties under the German standard. In 2023 the only native German rabbit breed that was even more endangered was the Fuchskaninchen (German Fox rabbit).
Where the breed comes from
English Lops come from England, where breeders focused above all on long ears. According to the BLE, the exact origin of lop rabbits cannot be fully established. The first animals came to Germany between 1880 and 1890.
How to recognise an English Lop
- The ears: Measured from ear tip to ear tip, the ear span is 54 to 60 centimetres according to the German standard, and the ears are 11 to 14 centimetres wide. For animal welfare reasons, these measurements were reduced considerably in the German standard. How to measure correctly is explained in the guide Measuring the ears correctly.
- The body: slim and fine-boned in lop type, with a standard weight of 4.25 to 5.25 kilograms.
- No crown: The English Lop is the only lop breed without a crown, because it carries the ear openings facing forward. At that spot the fur merely stands up like a “mohawk”, and this “hairdo” does not count in judging. More on this in The “crown” of the English Lop.
- The coat: fine guard hair and somewhat shorter fur.
Colour varieties
The original colour varieties include blue, blue-grey, dark grey, iron grey, yellow, black, Thuringian (Thüringer) colour, red-eyed white and agouti. There are also broken (spotted) varieties such as blue-and-white.
I breed blue, blue-and-white and white. How my breeding began with two blue carriers is something I tell on About me.
Sources
- BLE: Rote Liste – Einheimische Nutztierrassen in Deutschland 2025 (Red List of native livestock breeds in Germany 2025), rabbit chapter, pp. 245–255 and appendix. ble-medienservice.de (opens in a new window)
- BLE: Red List 2021, p. 197, and Red List 2023, pp. 205 and 215. genres.de (opens in a new window)
- BLE press release of 16 January 2024 on the 2023 Red List. ble.de (opens in a new window)
- Small Animals Working Group (Arbeitskreis Kleintiere): list of old native rabbit breeds, short version, valid since October 2024. genres.de (opens in a new window)
- GEH: Red List, as of January 2026. g-e-h.de (opens in a new window)