Here are 8 bunny facts

As early as the 17th century, a doctor described the custom of a hare bringing eggs at Easter. Why this connection exists is controversial. One theory is that eggs are symbols of new life, as are rabbits, which often have many young. This is because Christians celebrate the resurrection of the crucified Jesus at Easter. However, the Easter bunny only really became popular from the 19th century onwards, as liturgy professor Benedikt Kranemann from the University of Erfurt (Germany) says. It was then that the chocolate industry started selling bunnies. For a long time, people also talked about other animals that brought eggs at Easter - such as storks or foxes.

Probably the most expensive chocolate bunny cost around 49,000 euros. It had diamond eyes and was 38 centimetres tall. It took British chocolatier Martin Chiffers around 40 hours to make it, as reported by Forbes magazine.

According to Chocosuisse, the association of Swiss chocolate manufacturers, it is estimated that around 20 million chocolate bunnies are produced for the domestic market every year, which equates to around two to three bunnies per person.

Four and a half meters high and weighing around 4,200 kilos was the largest chocolate bunny ever, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Nine people worked on the sweet sculpture for eight days in Brazil in 2017.

A single lumpfish female lays up to 200,000 eggs every spring. The fish, which live in the northern Atlantic and parts of the North and Baltic Seas, have their spawning season around Easter. Their orange-red eggs are dyed black, salted and sold as "false caviar" (also known as "Perles du Nord" in Iceland). This makes it look like the classic and more expensive caviar from sturgeon. According to conservationists, there are fewer and fewer lumpfish. One of the reasons for this is humans fishing them or taking away their habitat with sand and gravel extraction.

According to the Federal Office for the Environment, the brown hare - the role model for the Easter bunny - is in even worse shape. It is on the Red List as an endangered species. Since the first field counts in 1991, there has been a significant decline in population densities - and therefore populations. The intensification of agriculture and increasing urban sprawl are seen as the main causes. The hare prefers open landscapes and varied fields with hedgerows, which it finds less and less often. Several cantons have banned the hunting of the animal, while many hunting associations have voluntarily renounced it.

Another famous bunny is the logo animal of the men's magazine "Playboy". Its late founder Hugh Hefner found the animal cheeky and sexy. He also liked the real animals and donated money for their protection. An endangered species of rabbit is even named after him - the Sylvilagus palustris hefneri.

"My name is Hase, I don't know anything" - This saying dates back to the 19th century and goes back to Viktor Hase, a law student at the University of Heidelberg (Germany). One of his friends had shot his opponent in a duel. Hase lent him his student ID so that he could disappear across the French border. In court, the escape helper said: "My name is Hase, I deny the general questions, I don't know anything!" He got off lightly: Hase got his identity card back and later his doctorate. His friend joined the Foreign Legion.

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The two Easter messengers get ready for their mission.

Image: Pexels