Latvia's 'First Rabbit' dies

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

RIGA, Latvia (AFP) — Latvia's "First Rabbit" has died after less than a year of having free rein in the official home of the country's president, Valdis Zatlers, the Baltic News Service (BNS) reported Thursday.

Zatlers told BNS that the rabbit, called Lisis, had apparently had trouble coming to terms with moving to the presidential home, despite being allowed to roam freely instead of being kept in a hutch.

Zatlers, a 52-year-old doctor, was plucked from the relative obscurity of heading Riga's State Traumatology and Orthopedics Hospital to take on the largely figurehead role of president last July.

He had previously said that the animal, bought by his teenage son, felt like a real family member.

Latvia's president has two official residences: Riga...