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. 

In a highly social species like chimpanzees, the process by which individuals become attuned to their social environment may be of vital importance to their chances of survival. Typically, this socialization process, defined by all...

Although rabbit does are generally single housed on rabbit farms worldwide, it has been suggested by some specialists and recommendation of organic rabbit production systems that group housing of does is more comfortable and similar...

Primates are notable for having a rich and detailed understanding of their social environment and there has been great interest in the evolution and function of social knowledge in primates. Indeed, primates have been shown...

Animal welfare regulations have required social housing of primates for more than two decades, although many veterinary and scientific exemptions have been approved with oversight by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs). In recent...

In research centers that study primates, pairing unfamiliar subjects is the most costly and difficult problem that staff face. Recent studies in adult rhesus macaques suggest that social competence and sociality, as measured by ease...

This is the third volume of discussions that took place on the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum (LAREF). This forum is dedicated to the exchange of personal experiences of refining the conditions under which...

Recently, there has been an increase in the implementation of social housing as an effective behavioral management strategy to improve the psychological well-being of captive nonhuman primates. Social housing nonhuman primates with conspecifics provides many...

Captive rhesus macaques sometimes exhibit undesirable abnormal behaviors, such as motor stereotypic behavior (MSB) and self-abuse. Many risk factors for these behaviors have been identified but the list is far from comprehensive, and large individual...

To ensure both regulatory compliance and high animal welfare standards a program was initiated in our facility to allow sexually mature male macaques the opportunity for social housing. Historically, there had been concern over social...

The eighth edition of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (the Guide) states that appropriate social interaction among members of the same species is essential for normal animal development and wellbeing...

Social enrichment is increasingly employed to improve the welfare of laboratory animals, including rabbits. However, the high levels of injurious aggression that can occur when unfamiliar adult rabbits are introduced to one another are a...

Social housing of nonhuman primates (NHP) in an infectious disease setting presents unique challenges, and individual housing is often scientifically justified. At our institute, we recognized an opportunity to limit individual housing to the minimal...

We analyzed our current enrichment protocols in order to develop and implement social experiences for our rabbit and guinea pig colonies. This article describes the development of an exercise pen for rabbits and a custom-made...

Cognitive abilities likely evolved in response to specific environmental and social challenges and are therefore expected to be specialized for the life history of each species. Specialized cognitive abilities may be most readily engaged under...

On Swiss rabbit breeding farms, group-housed does are usually kept singly for 12 days around parturition to avoid pseudogravidity, double litters and deleterious fighting for nests. After this isolation phase there is usually an integration...

Using behavioral data to predict pair stability would be helpful for improving management of pairs and prevention of injury. Differences in reactions to presumed laboratory stressors, such as location moves, may provide information about pair...

Providing social housing that mimics the species' natural group composition should be an aim for all captive environments. Aotus are nocturnal, monogamist primates whose offspring (both male and female) disperse at sexual maturity, living solitarily...

Abnormal behavior in macaque monkeys has been associated with risk factors such as nursery rearing and single housing. However, less is known about the extent of, and risk factors for, abnormal behavior in baboons. The...

This study compares the benefits between the two housing types by video recording 14 pairs of adult female Macaca fascicularis in four sequential housing phases following an ABBA design: baseline grooming-contact, full contact shortly after...

Our NHP import quarantine facility has close to a 90% success rate with pairing adult male (> 5 kg) cynomolgus macaques. Given the challenges of pairing adult male NHP, our goal was to determine if...

The eighth edition of The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals establishes social housing as the "default" for social species including non-human primates. The advantages of social housing for primates have been...

The ideal animal model would contribute no confounding variables in experimental science. Variables affect experimental design resulting in increased animal use or repeated studies. We demonstrated a simple refinement which may reduce the number of...

Since we receive rabbits at 10-12 weeks of age and we only house them for about 3 to 4 weeks, we decided to give group housing a try. Change is hard for most people and...

This review will examine how individual differences in temperament might affect, or be affected by, behavioral management practices for captive primates. Measuring temperament may help us predict the outcome of social introductions. It can also...

Lean management-based visual tools have been used to improve the quality of animal care associated with a complex research study involving immune-compromised cynomolgus monkeys (M. fascicularis) in various postsurgical recovery states. In order to effectively...