Golden hamster Golden hamster The golden hamster or Syrian hamster ("Mesocricetus auratus") is a rodent in the subfamily Cricetinae, the hamsters. Their natural geographical range is limited to arid areas of northern Syria and southern Turkey. Their numbers have been declining due to a loss of habitat caused by agriculture and deliberate elimination by humans. Thus, in the wild, they are now considered vulnerable by the IUCN. However, captive-breeding programs are well established, and captive-bred golden hamsters are often kept as small house pets. Additionally, they are also used as scientific research animals throughout the world. The size of adult animals ranges
Domestication of the Syrian hamster male hamster then killed one of the females. Aharoni doubted that the remaining hamsters would breed. Ben-Menachen tried a new breeding technique, described as follows: Aharoni wrote this conclusion: Within one year, these three hamster siblings were the origin of a colony of 150 hamsters. Adler was the first recipient of hamsters from this colony. Adler and another scientist published the first research using Syrian hamsters in 1931. Adler was known for his generosity and modesty and often did not make a record of his work, so some of what happened next is uncertain. Aharoni made no mention of further