990384 United Nations Helping Rabbits Multiply

United Nations - The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is promoting a plan to help rabbits do what comes naturally -- breed.

The idea is to set up a network to support rabbit breeding in Mediterranean countries as a way of adding to the food supply, generating income and diversifying livestock, a U.N. spokesman said Wednesday.

The network has been given a suitably bureaucratic name: “International Observatory on Rabbit Breeding in Mediterranean Countries.”

The first meeting will be attended by delegates from 14 countries and groups like the Italian Rabbit-Breeding Society. It will be held at FAO headquarters in Rome Thursday and Friday.

According to the FAO, rabbits have a “significant potential to improve food security” since they can produce up to 40 offspring a year, compared to only 0.8 for cattle and 1.4 for sheep.

They are also a cheap source of protein, with a female producing close to 180 pounds (80 kilos) of meat annually or nearly 3,000% of her own weight.

Other advantages are that rabbits produce highly nutritious, low-fat, low- cholesterol meat rich in protein and certain minerals.

They are also adaptable to different environments and are easy to transport and market for food or fur and skin to make gloves and other clothing.

The FAO said consumption of rabbit meat dates back to 1000 BC when Phoenicians were believed to have brought wild rabbits from North Africa and Spain. The Romans spread them throughout their empire.

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