A ... Girabbit? (!)

The Girabbit is an excessively rare animal who lives in the southern part of France. This is quite unusual for it is thought to have originally come from eastern Africa. It is believed that a migratory journey was undertook when the population of competing species like the zebras and the more familiar giraffe came to supersede Girabbits in the savannah. How they came to complete their journey to their new land is a mystery to all girabbitologists. Even if their origins are lost, the discovery of the "Blue Book of Migration" led to a new interest into this fascinating animal. This volume retrace the "history" of the last known herd of Girabbit in southern France. This book has been lost in the late nineteenth century and only second-hand accounts are available to the zoologist. However those accounts are often accurate enough. what we learn from this book is that Girabbits arrived in southern France almost six hundred years ago. There, under a perfect climate, they prospered and became so widespread that they became part of everyday life.

Unfortunately, of this original population only few individuals are left; some say, only three. If the reasons for this dramatic decline are still unknown, it is believed by some that a new form of disease from another planet is at the origin of it. Other more serious biologists argue that the Girabbit demonstrated after few centuries a form of psychological disease coming from their detachment from their original motherland. Given the extreme sensitivity of Girabbits, this explanation is the most plausible.

Some zoologists have challenged the very existence of Girabbits. Dr. Don Notkare for example affirms that "to say that someone has 'seen' is Girabbit is pure moonshine. Such a species is unknown to us and we have no proof of its existence." In the same manner, Dr. S.K. Heptical argues that "the Girabbit is an invention of primitive savage men who saw in the common giraffes a form of mythological and deistic grandeur. The first giraffe were given the rank of deity known now as Girabbit. But as a natural species, the Girabbit does not exist."
However those statement don't stand historical scrutinity. In fact, English scholar J.R.R. Tolkien reported having a first-hand knowledge of one Girabbit. In his illustrated biography of "Mr. Bliss" Tolkien describes very briefly one of the last known Girabbit. Because of the absence of details regarding the identity of the said "Mr. Bliss" and since Tolkien had been raised first in what is now South Africa, it is quite possible to identify him with "Mr. Bliss." This would entail that Professor Tolkien was the one who illegally "imported" a Girabbit "out of Africa" into England. The relationship to the French Girabbit is still unknown ...
Here is a picture of one of the French Girabbit, named Oscar.

In our next post, the origin of the word "Girabbit" ...