Ling-ru Chu Graduate Student (Ph.D. program) Animal Behavior Graduate Group Major Professor: Dr. Joy A Mench Phone: (530)752-3643 FAX: (530)752-0175 E-mail: ldchu@ucdavis.edu

Education

B.A., Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 1996. 
Ph.D., University of California, Davis, CA (In Progress: Expected 2002).

Project: Spacing behavior and social preferences of laboratory rabbits

Increased interest in environmental enrichment for laboratory animals has extended beyond primates and dogs to include smaller laboratory animals such as rabbits and rodents. For nonhuman primates, researchers have concluded that social enrichment is superior to inanimate enrichment. Although no detailed studies have arrived at a similar conclusion for smaller laboratory animals, it seems reasonable that this conclusion would apply to other gregarious species.    

Social housing provides many benefits for gregarious species. However, in laboratories, where space is a limited resource, social housing may lead to aggression and social stress. Animals use spacing patterns to regulate their social interactions. In order to implement the most beneficial enrichment program, we must first understand how animals preferentially use space.    

The goal of this research is to increase the knowledge necessary to improve the welfare of laboratory rabbits. We will determine how individual and paired rabbits use space and enrichment objects. Additionally, by determining how strongly motivated rabbits are to be with social companions, we can assess which aspects of enrichment are most important and should be subsequently included in laboratory rabbit housing.    

Specific objectives of this research include:  

1. Assess the behavior and patterns of space use of paired and individually housed rabbits in standard laboratory cages.  
2. Determine how the same rabbits housed in a relatively large enclosure use both space and enrichment objects.  
3. Determine how pairing affects space and enrichment use in these relatively large enclosures.  
4. Determine how strongly motivated rabbits are to interact with familiar conspecifics, unfamiliar conspecifics, and enrichment objects.