You may be asking yourself, “who is this handsome rabbit with a mane and super cool side bangs?” Meet Aslan! Voted the handsomest rabbit in Akron by… himself. He is a five-year-old lionhead mix breed and just one of the Animal Ambassadors here at the Akron Zoo.
Aslan was adopted from the Humane Society of Summit County where his parents and seven siblings were surrendered. His owner felt they were no longer able to provide all ten rabbits with the proper care and attention. When it was time for the zoo to acquire a rabbit, we looked into local animal rescues and came across Aslan. Education staff met him and decided to make the Akron Zoo his forever home.
As an Animal Ambassador, Aslan travels around Northeast Ohio to schools, libraries, and senior and community centers on educational programs. When he’s not traveling Aslan is a popular guest at our summer ZooCamps, public meet & greets, special events and trips to the Barnhardt Family Welcome Center to hang out with the zoo’s administrative staff.
One of Aslan’s main roles is to travel to preschools to help small children learn about animals, but most importantly empathy. Due to Aslan’s laid back personality, he is comfortable sitting in a circle of children while the education staff teaches and allows them to gently touch his back. One of the reasons we use smaller animals such as Aslan for our preschool animals is because not all small children are comfortable around animals and we want their experience to be positive.
Speaking of special events, Breakfast with the Bunny is just around the corner. Hop onto our event page for more information about the event and your chance to meet Aslan. Tickets will be on sale by Valentine’s Day, but remember tickets sell out fast!
If you are looking into adding a rabbit to your family, please do your research first. Some things to consider are housing, diet, toys/enrichment items, your family’s lifestyle, and local veterinarians in your area that commonly see and treat small animals. There are many types of breeds. Don’t forget the mixed breeds, like Aslan, waiting for their forever homes in local animal rescues. As the saying goes, “The more you know…”