Bunny hug: No one knows which mum had each kittenResident females Hazel, Willow and Ash, who share their pen with a large neutered male rabbit called Wilbur, had all sampled the new boy's charms.
All it took was a 60 minutes and a little bit of bunny charm.
Finding himself smuggled into the rabbit enclosure at Battersea Park Children's Zoo, Archie the lop-eared albino set about doing what bunnies do best.
By the time the inter-lop-er was discovered - the damage was done
And one month later Archie was proud father to a brood of 16 babies, which in the rabbit world are known as kittens.
Keepers at the zoo, previously home to just eight rabbits, now have 25 to care for.
But they have no idea where Archie came from. Anita Halligan, head keeper, explained: 'He just arrived one Sunday afternoon, someone obviously smuggled him in, but he wasn't spotted straight away.
'When we did realise he was there he had already been seen mating, we took him out straight away, but he'd been in for about an hour and by that time the damage had been done.'
Mystery: Keepers have no idea where Archie the Albino rabbit came fromArchie settled in to a new home in the guinea pig enclosure, and a few weeks later keepers noticed that Hazel, Willow and Ash appeared to have put on weight.
Just days later the three females gave birth - on the same day and within minutes of each other, meaning keepers are still not sure how many kittens belong to each rabbit.
Fortunately Archie - who has been castrated but is yet to move back in with his lady friends and Wilbur - has proved a hit with visitors. He's apparently 'a really friendly rabbit'.
The babies, who have not yet been sexed, will be shared between Battersea Zoo and its two other sites in Derbyshire and the New Forest. They are not available for rehoming.
Archie, who is thought to be aged about one, will be staying put.
But although the tale has had a happy, the zoo is warning other visitors not to do the same with their pets.
Fiona Vella, education and events manager at the zoo, said: 'We want to discourage others from doing the same, as rabbits are very difficult to match and settle down.
'If you take on the responsibility of keeping a pet, you have to follow through with that responsibility.
'Our resources here are also limited - we've already ended up with not one but 17 new rabbits.'
source: dailymail
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