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. 
Brooks, J., Yoshimura, H., Taki, Y. 2021. Knowledge-based enrichment: Development of a novel enrichment device for captive chimpanzees. Zoo Biology 40(5), 398-406.

The field of environmental enrichment has grown considerably, but most enrichment is still focused on tasks where highly valued food rewards are directly visible. We designed a device which would instead make use of knowledge...

Penfold, L. M., Norton, T., Asa, C. S. 2021. Effects of GnRH agonists on testosterone and testosterone-stimulated parameters for contraception and aggression reduction in male lion-tailed Macaques (Macaca silenus). Zoo Biology 40(6), 541-550.

Managing social groups in zoos requires controlling reproduction in individuals that do not have a current breeding recommendation, while simultaneously maintaining social harmony and animal well-being. Contraceptives, such as gonadotropin releasing-hormone (GnRH) agonists, that suppress...

Bwye, P. 2021. Social distancing is over: A pygmy slow loris trio housed together at Bristol Zoo Gardens. RATEL (Journal of the Association of British and Irish Wild Animal Keepers) 48(3), 15-17.

After the loss of one of our breeding males and the export of loris offspring, in 2021 our off-show female loris was solitary. During this time, we noticed a number of changes in this female...

Guerrero-Martin, S. M., Rubin, L. H., McGee, K. M. et al. 2021. Psychosocial stress alters the immune response and results in higher viral load during acute simian immunodeficiency virus infection in a pigtailed macaque model of human immunodeficiency virus. The Journal of Infectious Diseases 224(12), 2113–2121.

Although social distancing is a key public health response during viral pandemics, psychosocial stressors, such as social isolation, have been implicated in adverse health outcomes in general [1] and in the context of infectious disease...

Costantino, A., Fabrizio, E., Calvet, S. 2021. The role of climate control in monogastric animal farming: The effects on animal welfare, air emissions, productivity, health, and energy use. Applied Sciences 11(20), 9549.

In the last decades, an engineering process has deeply transformed livestock houses by introducing fine-tuned climate control systems to guarantee adequate indoor climate conditions needed to express the maximum genetic potential of animals and to...

Crailsheim, D., Stüger, H., P., Kalcher-Sommersguter, E. et al. 2020. Early life experience and alterations of group composition shape the social grooming networks of former pet and entertainment chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). PLOS ONE 15(1), e0226947.

The long-term effects of early life adversities on social capacities have been documented in humans and wild-caught former laboratory chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). However, former pet and entertainment chimpanzees have received little attention to date. This...

Goldsborough, Z., van Leeuwen, E. J. C., Kolff, K. W. T. et al. 2020. Do chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) console a bereaved mother? Primates volume 61(1), 93–102.

Comparative thanatology encompasses the study of death-related responses in non-human animals and aspires to elucidate the evolutionary origins of human behavior in the context of death. Many reports have revealed that humans are not the...

Andreasen, S. N., Sandøe, P., Waiblinger, S. et al. 2020. Negative attitudes of Danish dairy farmers to their livestock correlates negatively with animal welfare. Animal Welfare 29(1), 89-98.

Positive stockperson attitudes to his or her animals is associated with a positive behavioural response in the animals and in other indicators assumed to reflect a high level of welfare as well as increased productivity...

Anderson, J., Kaplan-Stein, S., Adolph, S. et al. 2020. Assessment of non-contact infrared thermometer measurement sites in birds. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 23(2), 131-139.

The standard method of obtaining body temperature in a bird can be a stressful event, making routine evaluations challenging. Twenty-eight privately owned birds in good health were enrolled in the study to compare digital and...

Guijarro, A., Mauri, S., Aviles, C. et al. 2020. Effects of two CO2 stunning methods on the efficacy of stunning and blood stress indicators of turkeys under commercial processing conditions. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 23(2), 231-243.

The effect of CO2 gas-stunning methods (G1: 30% CO2 15 sec, 55% CO2 40 sec, 70% CO2 45 sec; G2: 30% CO2 15 sec, 80% CO2 85 sec) on the efficacy of stunning, blood stress...

Ross, S. R., Leinwand, J. G. 2020. A review of research in primate sanctuaries. Biology Letters 16(4), 1620200033.

While non-human primate studies have long been conducted in laboratories, and more recently at zoological parks, sanctuaries are increasingly considered a viable setting for research. Accredited sanctuaries in non-range countries house thousands of primates formerly...

Matsuzawa, T. 2020. WISH cages: Constructing multiple habitats for captive chimpanzees. Primates 61(2), 139–148.

This article aims to introduce environmental enrichment for captive chimpanzees in Japan in a historical context. It describes the most recent endeavor of constructing huge cages and connecting multiple habitats. The Ai Project, a series...

MacAllister, R. P., Heagerty, A., Coleman, K. 2020. Behavioral predictors of pairing success in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). American Journal of Primatology 82(1), e23081.

Pair housing is one of the most important components of behavioral management for caged macaques; however, it can result in aggression and injury if partners are incompatible. Knowing when to proceed and when to stop...

Overduin-de Vries, A. M., de Vries, H., Vermande, M. M. et al. 2020. Both aggressive and affiliative behaviour facilitate resource access in high-ranking female long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Behaviour 157 (3-4), 267-287.

Access to limited resources may be achieved by dominance as well as by high rates of aggressive and affiliative behaviour. We investigated the relative effectiveness of dominance rank and aggressive and affiliative behaviour in accessing...

Skalníková, P., Frynta, D., Abramjan, A. et al. 2020. Spontaneous color preferences in rhesus monkeys: What is the advantage of primate trichromacy? Behavioural Processes 174, 104084.

Color perception and color signaling play an important role in various aspects of animal behavior. However, in mammals, trichromatic vision characterized by three retinal photopigments tuned to peak short, middle and long wavelengths is limited...

Bertho, J.-M., Ancelet, S., Denais-Laliève, D. et al. 2020. Humane endpoints in severe irradiation experiments using non-human primates: A retrospective analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Laboratory Animal Science 46(1).

A retrospective statistical study has been performed in order to identify the biological, clinical and behavioural variables that could potentially predict the survival status of irradiated non-human primates (NHP) and to refine the future use...

Regaiolli, B., Angelosante, C., Marliani, G. et al. 2020. Gum feeder as environmental enrichment for zoo marmosets and tamarins. Zoo Biology 39(2), 73-82.

Tamarins and marmosets are small-bodied social callitrichines. Wild callitrichines feed on exudates, such as sap and gum; particularly, marmosets are mainly gummivores, while tamarins consume gums only occasionally and opportunistically. Zoo marmosets and tamarins are...

Rossi, M. J., de Oliveira Fermoseli, A. F., Hirano, Z. M. B. et al. 2020. Adoption of an orphaned and temporarily captive infant by an unrelated adult female in black-and-gold howler monkey: Implications for management strategies. Primates 61(2), 169–174.

Conservation behavior involves the application of general principles of animal behavior for solving conservation problems. In primates, adoption of infants has been reported in several species and consists of an individual other than the biological...

Burn, C. C., Shields, P. 2020. Do rabbits need each other? Effects of single versus paired housing on rabbit body temperature and behaviour in a UK shelter. Animal Welfare 29(2), 209-219.

In the wild, rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are social but territorial. Recent surveys suggest that over half of pet rabbits are housed singly. We aimed to compare welfare in single versus paired rabbits. We predicted singletons...

Dal Bosco, A., Cartoni Mancinelli, A., Hoy, S. et al. 2020. Assessing the preference of rabbit does to social contact or seclusion: Results of different investigations. Animals 10(2), 286.

The aim of this study was to verify the motivation of rabbit does to social contact or seclusion. The results of two different research activities assessed in Italy (experiment 1) and Germany (experiment 2) through...

Botman, J., Hontoir, F., Gustin, P. et al. 2020. Postanaesthetic effects of ketamine–midazolam and ketamine–medetomidine on gastrointestinal transit time in rabbits anaesthetised with isoflurane. Veterinary Record 186(8), 249.

Gastrointestinal stasis is a common perianaesthetic complication in rabbits. The objective of this study was to assess the impact on gastrointestinal transit time of ketamine–midazolam (KMZ) versus ketamine–medetomidine (later antagonised by atipamezole) (KMT-A) in rabbits...

Składanowska-Baryza, J., Ludwiczak, A., Pruszyńska-Oszmałek, E. et al. 2020. Effect of two different stunning methods on the quality traits of rabbit meat. Animals 10(4), 700.

The aim of the study was to assess the effect of two different stunning methods on the level of blood stress indicators (cortisol, insulin, glucose) and rabbit meat quality. The experiment was conducted on crossbreds...

Earl, S. C., Hopper, L. M., Ross, S. R. 2020. Same space, different species: The influence of exhibit design on the expression of zoo-housed apes’ species-typical retiring behaviors. Animals 10(5), 836.

Wild chimpanzees frequently make arboreal nests, while wild lowland gorillas typically nest on the ground. We aimed to understand whether zoo-housed apes’ use of elevated spaces for retiring similarly differed between species and across exhibits...

Inoue, N., Shimada, M. 2020. Comparisons of activity budgets, interactions, and social structures in captive and wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Animals 10(6), 1063.

Chimpanzees in zoos with sufficient and appropriate environmental enrichment devices are expected to exhibit behaviors, interactions, and societies similar to those in the wild. In this study, we compared the activity budgets of each observed...

Munari, C., Mugnai, C., Braconnier, M. et al. 2020. Effect of different management protocols for grouping does on aggression and dominance hierarchies. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 227, 104999.

The study aimed at evaluating different management protocols of grouping does in regard to aggressive interactions and the establishment of a hierarchy under commercial conditions. Fifty-seven multiparous rabbit does of the Hycole hybrid maternal line...