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Unlike Swedish film star Greta Garbo who wanted to be left alone, girl rabbits will push open cat flaps to be near another female - but they still need their own space and should have choices about socialising, according to a researcher at the University of Edinburgh's Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. Dr Shirley Seaman of the Animal Behaviour and Welfare Group at the School discovered that the group of female New Zealand White rabbits were equally keen to gain company as to reach food. However, the rabbits were also eager to be able to gain access to a bolt-hole. The work, carried out to help maintain the best conditions for housing rabbits in captivity, looked at a group of female rabbits which had previously been housed alone. The animals were given a choice of cat flaps behind which were food, a bolt-hole, visual and tactile contact through a mesh panel with other rabbits or an empty area. Dr Seaman discovered the rabbits were just as keen to gain short periods of contact with others, as they were to reach food or a bolt-hole. All the rabbits were rehomed at the end of the study. Dr Seaman said: "Rabbits may have to be singly housed in a variety of situations, so we wanted to find out how important it is to let them have some social contact. Although the rabbits worked to gain access to social contact, after gaining access they chose to spend just over a third of the time not in direct visual contact with the other rabbit. This shows the importance of allowing rabbits the choice of whether or not to have direct visual contact. We didn't explore the issue of the importance of physical contact between rabbits in the same cage, as unfamiliar rabbits may show high levels of aggression when housed together." The research was carried out under the auspices of the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare. The findings have been presented at several conferences recently,
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