Photo Gallery Jump Rabbit Jump
All bunnies like to hop. But those who take part in the hobby of Kaninhop do it competitively. The rabbits negotiate courses full of mini-jumps in tournaments around Europe and the US. The hobby's popularity continues to grow.
The sport originated in Sweden in the 1980s. It has since spread across Scandinavia and far beyond. Here, James of the Kaninhop club in Jena, clears a hurdle.
James taking a breather. The Jena Kaninhop club was started by James' owner Claudia Fehlen. "James is pretty good in training, but he hasn't yet taken part in any tournaments," she told SPIEGEL ONLINE.
Elvis on a practice course. "As long as you train them, they really like to do it," Fehlen says.
The Kaninhop club in Jena has 13 members. Here, Cotton Candy doesn't quite clear a jump. The bunnies are scored by how many barriers they clear. There is also a time element to the scoring.
Rules vary country-by-country. But there is a European championship tournament, which takes place this year in October in Switzerland.
Kaninhop has critics. But Fehlen says that the bunnies actually like it. "If they just start jumping and go through the whole series of jumps and turn around at the end and want to do it again, it's pretty clear that they like it," she says. "We don't force them to do anything."
Snoopy is the star at the Jena club. He has come in second and in third at tournaments. In the high jump competition, he can clear 60 centimeters. The world record is said to be 99.5 centimeters.
The bunnies wear leashes during the tournaments so they don't break free. "We don't want to have uncontrolled reproduction," Fehlen says.
Elvis trying out his moves. "You have to pay attention to the animals," Fehlen says. "If they don't want to participate, they can just sit and watch."
