Syrain Hamster

Popularity of the Syrian Hamster began when a new animal model was ‎needed for laboratory research.

Parasitologist Saul Alder, at the Hebrew ‎University of Jerusalem, discovered the Chinese hamster worked well as an ‎animal model for his research, but he was unsuccessful in breeding the ‎animals. Wanting another hamster to work with, he decided on the Syrian as it ‎was native to the Middle East. He was successful in breeding the hamsters ‎and continued his research. Alder traveled to England in 1931 and smuggled ‎the first Syrians into the country, literally in his pockets.
1938 would see the ‎introduction of these hamsters to the United States. From these few ‎‎"smuggled" animals, the populations we have today of Syrians originated.