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. 
Golledge, H., Richardson, C. (Eds.) 2024. The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other Research Animals (9th ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. 1040 p.

The latest edition of the seminal reference on the care and management of laboratory and research animals. The newly revised ninth edition of The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other...

Razal, C., Bryant, J., Miller, L. 2024. Assessing giraffe welfare during seasonal habitat changes in northern US zoos. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 12(1), 9–15.

Although there has been an increase in research studying the impact of housing on zoo animal welfare, there is still a lack of literature regarding the impact of seasonal housing differences on animal welfare. In...

Song, Y., Xie, S. 2024. Effects of substrate roughening on the swimming performance of Schizothorax wangchiachii (Fang, 1936) in the Heishui River: Implications for vertical slot fishway design. Journal of Fish Biology 104(2), 473–483.

Re-establishing the natural connectivity of rivers using fishways may mitigate the unfavourable effects of dam construction on riverine biodiversity and freshwater fish populations. Knowledge of the swimming performance of target species in specific regions is...

Urrego, A. C. B., Aguilar, D. A. B. 2024. Impact of diet and environmental enrichment management in stereotyped behaviours: A case study in tayra Eira barbara. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 12(1), 49–55.

Holistic approaches have been implemented to minimise stress expressed as stereotypies associated with low welfare conditions, which can arise from a range of factors such as frustration, adaptation attempts and neurological problems. Such behaviour was...

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...

Brando, S., Vitale, A., Bacon, M. 2023. Promoting good nonhuman primate welfare outside regular working hours. Animals 13(8), 1423.

Promoting good primate welfare outside of daylight hours is an important task. The responsibility to provide a complex environment and environmental enrichment is an essential element of primate wellbeing programs that should be approached from...

Williams, E., Hunton, V., Hosey, G. et al. 2023. The impact of visitors on non-primate species in zoos: A quantitative review. Animals 13(7), 1178.

Visitors are a prominent feature in the lives of zoo animals, and their presence can cause a range of impacts on zoo animals (typically classed as positive, negative or neutral impacts), commonly referred to as...

Wong, C.-H., Tsai, M.-A., Ko, F.-C. et al. 2023. Skin cortisol and acoustic activity: Potential tools to evaluate stress and welfare in captive cetaceans. Animals 13(9), 1521.

As people’s focus broadens from animals on farms to zoos and aquaria, the field of welfare science and the public’s concern for animal welfare continue to grow. In captive animals, stress and its causes are...

Jones, M, Alexander, M. E., Lightbody, S. et al. 2023. Influence of social enrichment on transport stress in fish: A behavioural approach. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 262, 105920.

Ornamental fishes are among the most commonly owned companion animals in the world, however, the transportation process during acquisition can result in fishes being exposed to biotic and abiotic conditions which compromise welfare. While many...

Bissell, H., Alves, M. H., Yogui, D. R. et al. 2023. Comparison of estimated wild giant anteater (Myrmecopahaga tridactyla linnaeus, 1758) diets with commercial diets for insectivores: Implications for anteater health. Animals 13(23), 3606.

Using the stomach contents of 24 wild road-killed giant anteaters as proxies for their diet, we found that estimated wild diets were much lower in calcium (about ten times less) and phosphorus compared with manufactured...

Brando, S., Norman, M. 2023. Handling and training of wild animals: Evidence and ethics-based approaches and best practices in the modern zoo. Animals 13(14), 2247.

There is an ethical responsibility to provide all animals living in human care with optimal and positive well-being. As animals living in zoos and aquariums frequently interact with their human caregivers as part of their...

Mooney, A., McCall, K., Bastow, S. et al. 2023. Changes in environment and management practices improve foot health in zoo-housed flamingos. Animals 13(15), 2483.

Foot lesions are a highly prevalent phenomenon among zoo-housed flamingos, with up to 99.8% of birds affected. These lesions are a recognized welfare concern, increasing the likelihood of bacterial infections, and even septicemia. Although several...

Smith, S. A. 2023. Fish welfare in public aquariums and zoological collections. Animals 13(16), 2548.

A wide variety of fish species have been displayed in public aquariums and zoological collections for over 150 years. Though the issue of pain perception in fish is still being debated, there is no disagreement...

Powell, J., Collins, T., Beaty, T. et al. 2023. A fat tailed what?!: Navigating husbandry for the fat tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata). Laboratory Animal Science Professional 11(4) (July/August), 46-48.

FTDs are Australian carnivorous nocturnal marsupials, whose diet, environmental needs, and enrichment vary from typical research species. Due to the limited working knowledge on the husbandry and care of this species in a biomedical setting...

Alizadeh, E. A., Graf, K., Schiwon, J. et al. 2023. Thirty years of telemetry-based data acquisition for cardiovascular drug safety evaluation: Applications and optimization. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 122, 107279.

Conducting safety evaluations of new drugs using conscious animals has been a specialty of our working group for thirty years. In this article, we review the various technical challenges and solutions dealt with over the...

Depauw, S., Verbist, L., Stevens, J. et al. 2023. Feeding management of giraffe towards positive welfare. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 11(4), 400–413.

This study prioritised positive affective states while modifying the feeding management of five giraffes at Zoo Planckendael and monitored the impact on indicators of both negative and positive welfare. Observations were conducted day and night...

Gendron, M. E., Buston, P. M. 2023. Review of housing and husbandry of anemonefishes for use in research. Journal of Fish Biology 103(5), 924–938.

Anemonefishes of the genus Amphiprion are emerging as a model organism for marine science, so there is potentially a lot for the research community to gain by optimizing and standardizing housing and husbandry protocols. Here...

Hube, D., van Meegen, C., Herbrandt, S. et al. 2023. Hair corticosterone concentration as a potential stress marker in pet rabbits. Veterinary Record 193(9), e3464.

Background As a prey species, rabbits tend to hide their illnesses and injuries. Consequently, pet rabbit owners often do not notice that their pet may be suffering. Methods Data on the housing and health of...

Kleinlugtenbelt, C., Clauss, M., Burkevica, A. et al. 2023. Fasted and furious? Considerations on the use of fasting days in large carnivore husbandry. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 11(3), 318–323.

Many large mammalian terrestrial carnivores do not hunt every day in their natural habitats, because given the right prey, they can gorge-feed more than their daily energy and nutrient requirements. At the same time, there...

Kottmann, J. S., Berge, G. M., Kousoulaki, K. et al. 2023. Welfare and performance of ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta) reared at two different temperatures after a preparatory feeding trial with enhanced dietary eicosapentaenoic acid. Journal of Fish Biology 103(5), 906–923.

Concerns have long been raised about the welfare of ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta) used for the biological control of sea lice in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) aquaculture. This study assessed the effect of increased dietary...

Saito, M., Matsunaga, M., Fukuizumi, H. et al. 2023. Factors affecting captive female giraffe stress response: Male presence, small enclosure, and low temperature. Zoo Biology 42(5), 632–643.

To improve animal welfare based on suitable social housing conditions, it is important to understand the factors that trigger high-stress responses. Wild giraffes live in a fission–fusion society and males and females are rarely in...

Walldén, W. 2023. Giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis feeding: How stereotypies and other behaviours changed at Kolmårdens djurpark in Sweden. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 11(4), 393–399.

Kolmården djurpark keeps one of the most northern living giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis groups in the world, and this comes with its challenges. For a long part of the year, the outside temperature is too cold...

Nguyen, T. T. H., Nguyen, T. M. D. 2022. Non-invasive assessment of physiological stress in captive common palm civets (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) in Vietnam. Journal of Animal Behaviour and Biometeorology 10(2), 2219.

Common Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) is a rare mammal appearing in South and Southeast Asia, first described in 1777. Because of the detrimental effects of stress, studying stress responses is important for this wildlife conservation...

Buckmaster, C. L., Levesque, D., LaFollette, M. et al. 2022. Five hot topics in refinement of nonhuman primate neuroscience research. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(1) (January/February), 24-26.

Members of the North American 3Rs Collaborative (NA3RsC) refinement initiative have chosen to summarize developments in five hot topics of interest: 1. Tips for welfare-friendly transport, chairing, and restraint; 2. Guidance on refining food and...

Pereira, P., Fandos Esteruelas, N., Nakamura, M. et al. 2022. Hair cortisol concentration reflects the life cycle and management of grey wolves across four European populations. Scientific Reports 12(1), 5697.

Hair can be preferred over other biological matrices for ethical reasons. Hair samples can be obtained non-invasively, thus addressing the pressing issues of animal welfare in wildlife research. Additionally, hair collection is simple and inexpensive...