It may be that the breed identified as “American Sable” is just not as common in shows anymore. I find it hard to believe the breed itself is actually endangered, but, who knows! The pureblood gene pool might be dwindling. I see a lot of rabbits with Sable coloring, though, so they can’t be as endangered as some people might claim, at least, outside of the breeding/showing arena.

I have not heard that about American Sables, but there are definitely some rare breeds out there. Wikipedia even includes a list of “extinct” breeds.

I think my first rabbit was an American Sable, he was a stray rabbit a friend of ours caught. I think there may be some more rare breeds out there but I’m not sure about endangered….there will always be breeders out there.

Certainly some breeds are more popular like lops and Netherlands but I think most people who get their rabbits from shelters and rescues probably don’t know exactly what their rabbit is and can only speculate so perhaps there are more of those rarer breeds out there but their owners don’t know their breed.

There are 2 endangered (near extinct) rabbit breeds in Sweden, one of them is called Orange Rabbit. There is a museum that keeps a few of these and last summer some crazy person decided to poison them, 2 of them died. Here’s a pic of an Orange Rabbit. http://migrated.ifokus.se/uploads/ab1/ab17b39113bff9b044396a4db69855cc/dsc-1495.jpg

I like the idea of show rabbits and breed standards.  Responsible show breeders will only perpetuate fantastic examples of the breed.  This results in healthier rabbits (provided clean bloodlines) and less of a change of extinction.  With that said, I also do not like the idea of cramped wire floor cages.

Bam— That rabbit is gorgeous! Who would poison those adorable innocent creatures!

The American Sable is a rare breed and not seen very often. A lot of rabbits get mislabeled at shelters and rescues which may make it seem like some breeds are more common then they actually are. I see that a lot with rabbits that have the charlie pattern as they almost always get labeled as Blanc de Hotots even though a lot of breeds carry the charlie pattern. Just like a lot of breeds carry the charlie pattern there are a lot who can carry the color sable as well. The thing about rare breeds is that a lot of people who breed them will not sell any as pets because they don’t want to risk any winding up with backyard breeders who will mess up the breed so you don’t find many in shelters. This is a list that I pulled off of a rare rabbit group that I joined on facebook.

#1 is most rare, #16 is less rare

2010 Rare Breed Rabbit Rank
1 Blanc de Hotot
2 Giant Angora
3 Cinnamon
4 Beveren
5 American
6 Satin Angora
7 Giant Chinchilla
8 Lilac
9 Silver
10 American Sable
11 Belgian Hare
12 American Chinchilla
13 Rhinelander
14 Creme d’Argent
15 Silver Fox
16 Palomino

It’s kind of impossible to really discuss endangered breeds without talking about breeding. Since discussing breeding is against the UA, it is kind of impossible to really talk about what it mean for a breed to be endangered and how it is different from endangered species.

If you want to know more about endangered breeds in general, Colonial Williamsburg has some info about it. http://www.history.org/almanack/life/animals/pr_rare.cfm