Two Black Bucks, 20 Years Apart

An English Angora black buck in 1986.

An English Angora black buck in 2006.

Chris O says,

"I came across this old photo Rudy, the first English Angora I owned. My god-children bought it for me one Christmas. Doesn't the rabbit look awful??? He died of wool block several months later."

In the bad old days of the 80s, English Angora had poor body type and cottony wool texture, they were molty and hard to keep up. Woolblock was one of the main causes of death due to the molting and shedding that caused the rabbits to ingest wool on a regular basis. No matter how much care the owner gave, almost every Angora owner had experienced the heartbreak of losing rabbits to woolblock.

Twenty years later, we very seldom see woolblock anymore. By eliminating the molting gene, it also eliminated woolblock. It's not just a matter of breeding for show stock, it's also breeding for more healthy rabbits.