German hopes to ease NKorea famine with rabbit exports

BERLIN, Jan 10 (Reuters) A breeder of giant rabbits in Germany is selling his animals to North Korea in the hope they will help relieve famine in the isolationist communist state.

''The first contingent of 14 animals is already there,'' Karl Szmolinsky from the eastern state of Brandenburg told Reuters, adding he is sending off another batch in February.

The North Korean agriculture ministry contacted him through the embassy in Berlin after officials saw a film about his rabbits.

''They are setting up a breeding farm for my rabbits and they will be slaughtered for meat,'' he said.

''I think this is a good idea -- they have a famine in North Korea and it feels good to think this might be helping.'' United Nations aid agencies have warned of a looming food crisis in North Korea where summer floods destroyed crops and worsened a chronic grain shortage.

Szmolinsky noted the animals, about 9 kg each, are nearly three times heavier than a normal-sized rabbit and provide a good deal of white meat.

''When I sit down with my family to have one of the rabbits we usually get about eight helpings,'' he said.

Szmolinsky, who said he was selling his rabbits to Pyongyang at a favourable price, plans to travel to North Korea to check they are getting properly fed and cared for.

He said although the rabbits are relatively easy to look after, they need intakes of carrots or potatoes twice a day, plus plenty of water.

REUTERS LL KP1058