Refinement Database

Medical care of nonhuman primates in a laboratory setting can be challenging due to the safety concerns inherent in handling conscious animals. A mature, adult male cynomolgus macaque presented with a chronic foot condition that...

At Charles River Laboratories, we are committed to ensuring all animals have the highest level of care and welfare. To this end, our social housing program includes placing all nonhuman primates in pairs or groups...

We are committed to ensuring all our animals have the highest level of care and welfare. To this end, our social housing program includes placing all animals in pairs or groups. We have a rate...

Early social housing is known to benefit cognitive development in laboratory animals. Pre-weaned dairy calves are typically separated from their dam immediately after birth and housed alone, but no work to date has addressed the...

Housing preweaned dairy calves in pairs rather than individually has been found to positively affect behavioral responses in novel social and environmental situations, but concerns have been raised that close contact among very young animals...

The question of whether it is better to house animals in groups rather than alone deals with the unresolved issues at the heart of animal welfare. In particular, we need to be able to rank...

Biotelemetry can contribute towards reducing animal numbers and suffering in disciplines including physiology, pharmacology and behavioural research. However, the technique can also cause harm to animals, making biotelemetry a ‘refinement that needs refining’. Current welfare...

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...

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...

Rhesus macaques in their natural environments, as well as in the free-ranging colony at Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico are highly seasonal breeders. Many animal species lose breeding seasonality when brought under captive conditions. The present...

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...

Physiological and psychological effects of listening to music have been documented in humans. The changes in physiology, cognition and brain chemistry and morphology induced by music have been studied in animal models, providing evidence that...

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...

Wheat grass kits are available from multiple sources (e.g. wheatgrasskits.com) and usually come with enough seeds and other materials to grow 5 flats. The instructions are very simple and the grass grows quickly, only taking...

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...

Research has shown animals are sensitive to environment changes and novel caretakers. The behavioral response to environmental change is often expressed as a decrease in willingness to comply or perform learned tasks. We assessed the...

Foraging opportunities are a key component of enrichment in captive nonhuman primates (NHP) providing manipulative opportunities in which animals can engage in species-typical behaviors. Recent studies suggest captive NHP populations have increased body weight over...

Locomotor stereotypies are behaviors often seen in singly housed rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and are considered to represent a maladaptive response to captive environments. Social housing is the most effective means for decreasing abnormal behaviors...

Chronic pain and distress are universally accepted conditions that may adversely affect an animal’s quality of life (QOL) and lead to the humane euthanasia of an animal. At most research institutions and zoological parks in...

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...

Alopecia is a common problem in rhesus macaque colonies. A possible cause of this condition is hair-pulling; however the true relationship between hair-pulling and alopecia is unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine...

Environmental enrichment is provided to laboratory-housed nonhuman primates to encourage species-typical behaviors. Some enrichment is labor intensive so quantitative studies should be undertaken to assure that the benefit is worth the effort expended. This study...

Alopecia is a persistent problem in laboratory macaques, and is important to address due to the perceived implication for health and psychological well-being. Alopecia ratings were taken at 4 time points over a 12-month period...

Alopecia in captive macaques is assumed to have a behavioral cause; either by over-grooming, or a result of stress. Analysis of behavioral treatments of alopecia remains elusive, yet facilities are accountable for treatment. Retrospective analysis...