Abstract
Breeding of the pika (Ochotona rufescens rufescens) in captivity has been attempted using three males and three females obtained from Dr. Puget (Laboratoire de Pharmacologie et Toxicologie Fondamentales, France) in 1974. The pikas were placed in aluminum cages with metal mesh floors in a breeding room maintained at a temperature of 22±2°C and a humidity of 55±5%, and 16 hours of lighting. The pikas were reared on a special solid diet prepared for them (Table 1) . At the time of pregnancy and nursing, nursing boxes containing plane shavings were used. Mating was achieved by means of cohabitation of females more than 2.5 months of age and males more than three months of age. After confirma-tion of mating, cohabitation was continued for one night and then the animals were separated. Pregnancy was evaluated by means of body weight increases. The results showed that the gestation period of the Pika was 26.5±0.8 days (Fig. 4), the pregnancy rate was 75.6%, the litter size averaged 4.0±2.1 and the weaning rate was 59.2%. The average body weight of the newborn was 9.2±1.4g. After three weeks, the females weighed an average of 87.1±13.8g and the males 85.3±14.1g and after 15 weeks, the figures were 206.4±34.6g for females and 219.3±46.5g for males. They should prove useful as a new laboratory animal species.
