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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 November 2017
Angora rabbits carry a mutation.which confers continuous wool growth. The use of the wool in textiles was first recorded in 1706 in the U.K. and western Europe dominated world production until the the early 20th century. China now produces 60 percent of the world's 4,000 tonne annual crop.
Genetic and nutritional improvements have led to a five-fold increase in annual yields over the last 40 years. Current commercial strains produce up to 1.5 Kg of wool per year from rabbits weighing 4 Kg. To maintain such yields requires concentrate diets with protein contents of at least 16 percent and cystine+methionine contents of 0.8 percent.
The wool may be sheared or plucked and consists of three fibre types. The wool hairs (80 percent of the fleece) are among the finest animal fibres at 8-12 microns. They have a hollow medulla which gives important properties of low density (1.23 grams per ml versus 1.3 for sheep wool) and high thermal insulation (2-3 times that of sheep wool).