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. 

According to the Swiss Animal Welfare Legislation, the minimal enclosure area for macaques of the size of rhesus or cynomolgus monkeys for experimental purposes is 15 cubic meters. In such an enclosure up to 5...

Enrichment techniques designed to encourage captive primates to spend more species-appropriate amounts of time in foraging behaviours have been successful. The present study measured the behavioural effects of four feeding enhancements: two devices (mats and...

The aquarium [with a single goldfish] was attached to the outside of the chimpanzee's cage ... so that the single-caged subject was able to touch the aquarium but not the fish itself. At the conclusion...

Eight baboon groups (Papio sp.) were observed for over one hundred scan samples both before and after the provision of structural enrichment. Additions to their home-cage included a galvanized ladder suspended horizontally by chains and...

The response of four singly caged baboons to radio music was measured using behavioral and physiological indices. Heart rate and blood pressure, measured through a tether system, as well as behavior, were recorded during a...

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...

Simple bamboo pipe feeder is described and tested in group-housed animals. The aim of the study was to [successfully] increase foraging time with an increasing number of feeding devices [brawn bowl, bamboo pipe]. ... Prior...

Results show that the feeding board [on which seeds were scattered] were almost always in use [during 30-minute observations]. ... There was no evidence that the position in which the feeding board was placed [high...

Our laboratory, a short time after the introduction of woodchip, became infested with domestic mice. ... We decided to adequate the original idea changing woodchip with argilla espansa ... a material that is used in...

Environmental improvements include construction of large indoor cages that allow pairing of experimental animals, a grass-covered 'playground' for breeding chimpanzee groups, and indoor/outdoor group housing for 'retired' experimental animals. In addition, we provide toys, perches...

The proximity of individual members of three family groups of marmosets was measured to two sources of food namely, on the introduction of their normal daily ration (baseline behaviour) as well as to a previously...

The present article represents a consensus view of the appropriate utilization of chimpanzees in AIDS research arrived at as a result of a meeting of a group of scientists involved in AIDS research with chimpanzees...

For captive primates, environmental enrichment may improve psychological well-being, as indicated by changes in the frequency of species-typical and abnormal behaviours. The effects of enrichment on physical well-being have also been examined, but little attention...

The animals spent approximately 20% of the [day] time interacting with the companion, 10% perching on the PVC pipe, 4% gnawing/manipulating the branch segment and 7% foraging for primary food.

Eight single-caged adult rhesus macaques were given the choice of freely collecting their standard food ration, i.e. 33 biscuits, from an ordinary food box or working for its retrieval from a custom- made food puzzle...

Higher perching elevations appear to be a very desirable feature in this environment for the expression of six of the twelve behaviors studied. Mid-level perches, on the other hand, were utilized more for only two...

Ninety-nine of the biscuits were placed in a freely accessible dish attached to the mesh of the front of the cage. Thirty-three biscuits were offered in a food puzzle. Twenty-five percent (4/16) of the subjects...

As always, the key to successful enrichment is variety. Use a different device each day. Load it with different foods each time. Sometimes don't load it with anything at all! (It keeps them guessing.) Before...

The purpose of this article is to illustrate how recycled, throw-away, and donated materials have been used creatively at little cost for the daily enrichment of chimpanzees.

In the wild, chimpanzees spend most of their time foraging, so any device that stimulates this behaviour in captivity could potentially be effective enrichment. A simple grass foraging device constructed of a polyvinyl chloride (PVC)...

In order to assess the environmental enrichment value of a small swimming pool for captive juvenile rhesus macaques (Macaca. mulatta), observations of social and individual behaviours were made during baseline and experimental (pool) conditions. When...

An attempt was made to encourage more foraging behaviour in eight pair-housed adult rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). No special device and no special food were used. Daily commercial dry food rations consisting of 33 bar-shaped...

Ordinary feeder-boxes were converted into food puzzles by remounting them onto the mesh of the front of the cages, away from original access holes. The total amount of time [pair-housed] adult male rhesus macaques engaged...