A leisure pursuit during college days showed T. Kalyan from Mangalgiri the way to self employment.
Kalyan, a decade ago, had taken a fancy for rabbits when he visited the Vijayakrishna Super Bazaar on Bandar Road along with his friends. He bought a pair of rabbits like any other pet lover. As days passed, he realised that he owned dozens of rabbits in his backyard. “I realised it could be a better business given the demand for bunnies and rabbit in the market,” he says.
A B.Sc. graduate, Kalyan even cultivates feed required for rabbits and bunnies. Now, he has more than 100 rabbits in his farm. A pair is sold at Rs. 550. Interestingly, the demand for rabbits is going up, and buyers are mostly from the student community. “On an average, I sell four to five pairs a day. But, it varies,” he says.
The pet animals have also come up in the city in view of growing demand. They are selling exotic birds, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs and of course fish aquariums. Apart from dogs, people have been buying birds and aquariums. The people found new fascination to rabbits, says Ujwal of Google Aquariums located on Rajagopalachari Street here. A pair of rabbits costs around Rs. 650.
Though it is not possible to say how many rabbits are sold every day, we can say that the demand will be more on Sundays and public holidays. It is the time they come out to buy pet animals, he says. It is cheaper to have rabbits as pet animals, the sellers say, as they don’t require anything more than leafy vegetables used in the kitchen.
Cabbage, greens and leafy vegetables were enough to feed the rabbit, say Mr. Kalyan.
