UEA researcher cuddles rarest rabbit in the world after miracle find

The UEA campus rabbits have caught us stumbling home after a rampant night in the LCR, but sadly we’ve never been able to catch one – until now.

While the bunny in question isn’t a UEA one it was held by a UEA student.

The Annamite Striped Rabbit is believed to be the rarest in the world and was discovered by UEA researchers. Sarah Woodfin, an Applied Ecology and Conservation Masters student, was on a three month expedition to Vietnam when the rabbit strutted its stuff along the stream bank the very first night.

The Tab asked Sarah for some hints on how to catch rabbits, but she was unable to muster any post-LCR tips. She does have the privilege of being the first researcher to have a cuddle with the bunny though.

She said: “Sadly, it was not me but one of my team who managed to catch the rabbit. Purely by luck.”

Despite such exotic encounters Sarah still has a place in her heart for the more familiar campus rabbits.

She continued: “I don’t think that the striped rabbit is necessarily better than our British rabbits. I’m not sure it is right to compare them and say one is better than the other. I love both of them.’

It was this devotion to rabbits that found Sarah hopping to study at UEA.

She said: “I actually applied to UEA primarily because Dr Diana Bell, who is a rabbit specialist, is there.”

Dr Bell was, coincidently, the first person to document the Annamite Striped Rabbit back in 1999.

Sarah doesn’t know how many rabbits there are, but they are at risk of extinction.

She said: “Hopefully I’ll be working on that for my PhD. But I (sic) very worried about the effects of hunting on the population”.

To increase their numbers these Vietnamese bunnies should be given the help they deserve: A 2 week stay in Broadview Lodge, where they can experience the 5 Ls and, dare we say it… go at it like rabbits.