Summary The African giant rat Cricetomys gambianus Waterhouse is found in a wide variety of habitats in Ibadan district. These include an abandoned farm in a degraded deciduous forest, a zoological garden complex, Agodi; and a forest plantation of teak (Tectona grandis L.F.), human habitation and derived Guinea savanna. They located their burrows in the most heavily shaded parts of the habitats. Burrows were found mostly inside deserted termite mounds and amongst roots of trees probably to provide insulation from heat. They are nocturnal, omnivorous rodents, feeding on a wide variety of root crops, fruits, molluscs and insects. Fruits of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) or their remains were found in all burrows. Information on habitat preferences, food habits, as well as that obtained from the dimensions and design of burrows which are reported in this paper later provided a basis for the design of cages and husbandry techniques for a programme of domestication of this rodent, which is currently being carried out at University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

SummaryFood habits, growth rate, reproductive performance, carcass characteristics and nutritive value of the giant snail were investigated in the field and with captive snails.Food consumed included fresh plant material, livestock faeces and dead animals. Clutch sizes varied from six to twelve and incubation periods from 30 to 45 days. Weight gains of young snails of average weight 20 g fed on diets of single plant species ranged from 18% on Talinum triangulare leaves to 200% on pawpaw fruit. Best growth was shown on leaves of cassava and cocoyam, grain chaff of maize and fruit of pawpaw.Dressing‐out percentage of snails of 200 g weight was 37.8%. Nutrient composition of the edible portion compared closely with that of domestic livestock. Nitrogen‐free extractive content was high at 5% and fat low at 1.3%. Mineral analysis revealed a high iron content of 12.2 mg/100 g in the edible carcass.The experiments showed that the snail could thrive in captivity on a variety of locally produced feeds, many of them rejected as waste products. It shows great promise as a domestic animal capable of being reared with negligible capital outlay.

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SummaryA gradient of behavioural patterns was observed among the wild and the first four generations of the African giant rat. Escape reactions and agonistic behaviour were completely lost as from the second generation. Wild rats were easily tamed and those born in captivity were very social. However, being a burrowing rodent, preferring a cool environment in nature, they had a low tolerance to heat. Cannibalism was an important management problem which persisted to the fourth generation resulting in the mortality of 40% of the newly born. From the fifth generation onwards, rats became completely tame and docile. Cannibalism was reduced to less than 10% of the newly born at the fifteenth generation. At this stage, for all practical purposes the giant rat can be regarded as a domestic animal.

The study examined the nutritional, microbial and sensory profile of regularly consumed commercial whole wheat breads in Nigeria in order to offer an insight into the overall quality of these foods. Four major local brands of commercial whole wheat breads (samples A, B, C and D) were evaluated. The normal white bread (sample E) served as control. Results of the physical properties obtained, showed that the white bread (sample E) had higher values for bread volume (2850 cm 3 ), specific volume (4.38 cm 3 /g), hydration capacity (4.50%) and compressibility (45%) than the whole wheat breads. No trace of bromate was found in all the bread samples. The proximate analyses for the whole wheat bread showed the moisture content to range from (30.64-38.74%), fat (3.5-5.0%), Fibre (2.5-3.5%) higher than in white bread (26.40, 3.0 and 1.20% respectively). While the whole wheat breads had lower levels of protein (5.25-6.48%), carbohydrate (45.74-51.25%) and energy (249-258 Kcal) when compared to white bread of 9.00, 59.40% and 301 Kcal, respectively. The ash and mineral contents of the whole wheat breads were higher than that of white bread. While the viable microbial counts for the whole wheat breads (1.0×10 2 -1.5×10 2 ) were lower than in the white bread (3.1×10 2 ). Generally, the bread samples were within the regulatory specifications and the whole wheat breads were nutritionally superior to the white bread while the white bread had better overall sensory preference than the whole wheat breads.