Refinement Database

Database on Refinement of Housing, Husbandry, Care, and Use of Animals in Research

This database, created in 2000, is updated every four months with newly published scientific articles, books, and other publications related to improving or safeguarding the welfare of animals used in research.

Tips for using the database:

  • This landing page displays all of the publications in the database.
  • Use the drop-down menus to filter these publications by Animal Type, Setting, and/or Topic.
  • Clicking on a parent category (e.g., Rodent) will include publications relating to all the items in that category (e.g., Chinchilla, Gerbil, Guinea Pig, etc.).
  • You may also add a keyword to further narrow your search.
  • Please note that at this time, only publications dated 2010 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Animal Type and Topic, and only publications dated 2020 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Setting. Most publications older than 2010 can only be searched by keyword. 
Robinson, L. M., Weiss, A. (Eds.) 2023. Nonhuman Primate Welfare: From History, Science, and Ethics to Practice. Springer, Cham, Switzerland. 671 p.

This volume reviews the broad topic of welfare in nonhuman primates under human care. Chapters detail the history of primates in captivity, ethical and legal issues surrounding the use of nonhuman primates as entertainment or...

Sharma, S., Khanal, L., Shrestha, S. et al. 2023. Zoo visitors as a source of enrichment to reduce abnormal behavior in captive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) in the Central Zoo, Kathmandu, Nepal. Journal of Animal Behaviour Biometeorology 11(1), e2023005.

Overexpression of abnormal behavior among captive primates indicates poor management practices. The type, frequency, and contributing factors of abnormal behaviors vary highly across individual animals in captive settings. This study explored if sex, rearing history...

Serinelli, I., Soloperto, S., Lai, O. R. 2022. Pain and pain management in sea turtle and herpetological medicine: State of the art. Animals 12(6), 697.

In sea turtle rescue and rehabilitative medicine, many of the casualties suffer from occurrences that would be considered painful in other species; therefore, the use of analgesic drugs should be ethically mandatory to manage the...

Lutz, C. K., Coleman, K., Hopper, L.M. et al. 2022. Nonhuman primate abnormal behavior: Etiology, assessment, and treatment. American Journal of Primatology 84(6), e23380.

Across captive settings, nonhuman primates may develop an array of abnormal behaviors including stereotypic and self-injurious behavior. Abnormal behavior can indicate a state of poor welfare, since it is often associated with a suboptimal environment...

Franklin, A. N., Martin, A. L., Perlman, Siti Norsyuhada Kamaluddin et al. 2022. Functional analysis and successful treatment of a captive rhesus macaque’s disruptive behavior. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 25(3), 287-296.

Functional analysis (FA) is a method developed and used by behavior analysts in human clinical settings to identify possible environmental variables that reinforce undesired behavior. FA is increasingly being applied to better understand the behavior...

Hatcher, N. 2022. The effects of enrichment on an abnormal behaviour in naked mole rats (Heterocephalus glaber) at Tilgate Nature Centre. RATEL (Journal of the Association of British and Irish Wild Animal Keepers) 49(4), 15-18.

The naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is a relatively rare mammal in zoological collections with only nine zoos in the United Kingdom holding colonies of varying sizes at the time of study. This study aims...

Pomerantz, O., Capitanio, J. P. 2021. Temperament predicts the quality of social interactions in captive female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Animals 11(8), 2452.

Previous reports suggest that female macaques with greater similarity in emotionality and nervous temperament, as evaluated in a well-established BioBehavioral Assessment (BBA) at the California National Primate Research Center, were more likely to form successful...

Le Balle, R., Cote, J., Santos Fernandez, F. A. 2021. Evidence for animal personalities in two Brazilian tortoises (Chelonoidis denticulatus and Chelonoidis carbonarius) and insights for their conservation. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 241, 105400.

Animal personality, the consistent between-individual differences in e.g., risk-taking, exploration, antipredator or mating behaviours, has major impacts on the fitness of individuals in many species. Understanding how to quantify animal personality should help us predicting...

Nash, R., Johnston, H., Robbins, A. et al. 2021. The effect of enrichment filling and engagement time on regurgitation and reingestion behaviour in three zoo-housed orangutans. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 2(1), 10–20.

Regurgitation and reingestion (R/R) is a prevalent, abnormal behaviour observed in captive great apes. R/R may be related to animal welfare and while less R/R appears to occur when apes are provided with browse and...

Mather, J. A., Carere, C. 2019. Consider the individual: Personality and welfare in invertebrates. In: The Welfare of Invertebrate Animals. Carere, C., Mather, J. (eds), 229-245. Springer, Cham.

Personality, defined as consistent between-individual variation in clusters of behavioral traits independent of factors such as age or sex, emerges in most animal species tested so far. The number of invertebrate species discovered to have...

McMillan, F. D. (ed). 2019. Mental Health and Well-being in Animals (2nd ed). CABI, Wallingford, UK.

This second edition is fully revised, expanded, and comprehensively updated with the most current knowledge about the full array of mental health issues seen in animals. Written by key opinion leaders, internationally-recognized experts and specialists...

Hopper, L. M., Cronin, K. A., Ross, S. R. 2018. A multi-institutional assessment of a short-form personality questionnaire for use with macaques. Zoo Biology 37(5), 281-289

There are two commonly used methods for calculating primates’ personality dimensions, behavioral assessments and surveys, which can be used separately or in conjunction. However, these methods have limitations. Behavioral assessments, such as the novel object...

Cooke, G. M. 2017. Stereotypic behavior is not limited to terrestrial taxa: A response to Rose et al. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 22, 17-18.

This comment is in response to a recent review of stereotypical behavior in captive exotic animals (Rose et al., 2017). Negative stereotypical behavior occurs across most if not all taxa, including notable aquatic invertebrates. A...

Warwick, C., Arena, P., Lindley, S. et al. 2013. Assessing reptile welfare using behavioural criteria. In Practice 35(3), 123-131.

While clinical reptile medicine as a science is in its ascendancy among veterinary surgeons and other interested groups, familiarity with the often related issue of reptilian behavioural and psychological health appears less common. Behavioural change...

Burghardt, G. M., Ward, B., Rosscoe, R. 1996. Problem of reptile play: Environmental enrichment and play behavior in a captive Nile soft‐shelled turtle, Trionyx triunguis. Zoo Biology 15(3), 223-238.

Giving captive animals the opportunity to interact with objects in a “playful” manner is often considered a method of environmental enrichment. However, the occurrence of play in nonavian reptiles is controversial and poorly documented. Similarly...