Jerry Springer has nothing on North Korea - the rabbits aren’t going:

The offspring of the 12 giant rabbits were supposed to help to feed starving North Koreans. . . amid concerns that they have been eaten by the country’s leaders, Mr Szmolinsky will not be sending any more.

The 68-year-old breeder had been due to travel to North Korea after Easter to provide advice on setting up a rabbit farm. A North Korean official rang him last week to say that the trip had been cancelled. Mr Szmolinsky said he suspected that his rabbits, which grow to the size of dogs and can weigh over 10kg (22lb), were eaten at a birthday banquet for Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leader, although he emphasised that he had no evidence of this.

[. . .]

The North Korean Embassy in Berlin denied that the rabbits were dead. A spokesman said that they were being used for a breeding programme, and had not been eaten. He added that no one at the embassy had contacted Mr Szmolinsky.

[. . .]

Mr Szmolinsky does not have an especially emotional attachment to the 90 rabbits he breeds each year.

“The rabbits are meant to be eaten, they’re like pigs, but these ones were exported for breeding purposes,” he said. The 12 he sent could have created 60 news ones each year.

Meanwhile, Mr Szmolinsky, a prominent member of the Brandenburg Rabbit Breeders’ Association, said he has been talks with potential rabbit buyers in several countries including Russia, which wants 400, the United States and Cameroon.

“China is sending a delegation to inspect my animals in June or July and may ask me to go to Shanghai,” he added.