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...

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...

Hube, D., Bill, J., Knop, E. S. et al. 2023. Physical injuries and hair corticosterone concentration in rabbit kits from single- and group-housed does kept on a commercial farm. Animals 13(2), 196.

In intense breeding programs, rabbits are exposed to numerous stress factors which could affect their welfare and health. It has been suggested that group housing is more comfortable for does and similar to the living...

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...

Pretorius, Y., Eggeling, T., Ganswindt, A. 2023. Identifying potential measures of stress and disturbance during a captive to wild African elephant reintegration. PLOS ONE 18(10), e0291293.

There is increasing evidence of compromised welfare for elephants managed in captivity. Should such facilities eventually close, more elephants will need to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into the wild. The goal of such reintegration would...

Nekaris, K. A.-I., Campera, M., Chimienti, M. et al. 2022. Training in the dark: Using target training for non-invasive application and validation of accelerometer devices for an endangered primate (Nycticebus bengalensis). Animals 12(4), 411.

Accelerometers offer unique opportunities to study the behaviour of cryptic animals but require validation to show their accuracy in identifying behaviours. This validation is often undertaken in captivity before use in the wild. While zoos...

Hirata, S. 2022. Sky after 30 years: A brief biography of three biomedical research chimpanzees in Japan. Primates 63(2), 105–108.

This article describes the strategies employed by Kumamoto Sanctuary in Japan to integrate 3 retired chimpanzees – who each spent 30 years singly housed in a biomedical facility – with the sanctuary’s other residents.

Mayes, B. T., Tait, L. A., Cowley, F. C. et al. 2022. Stocking density, restricted trough space, and implications for sheep behaviour and biological functioning. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 965635.

Stocking density and trough space allowance can potentially impact sheep welfare during live export voyages. The aim of this study was to assess the welfare implications for sheep housed at five allometric stocking densities, with...

Shyan-Norwalt, M. 2021. Applications of behavioral training to laboratory animals. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(1) (January/February), 13-15.

How many of us have had this experience? We go to a conference, we read an article, we watch a video. We understand operant conditioning. We grasp the concepts behind clicker training, target training, and...

Sørensen, D., Cloutier, S., Gaskill, B. (Eds.). 2021. Animal-centric Care and Management - Enhancing Refinement in Biomedical Research. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

The concept of the 3Rs (Refinement, Reduction and Replacement) has been used as a framework for improving the welfare of laboratory animals for the last half century. By establishing an animal-centric view on housing and...

Spiezio C., Vaglio, S., Vandelle C. et al. 2021. Effects of rearing on the behaviour of zoo-housed chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Folia Primatologica 92(2), 91–102.

Early-life experiences may considerably affect the behavioural patterns of adult primates. Particularly, atypical rearing practices might lead to abnormal behaviours and social-sexual deficiencies in captive, adult non-human primates. We conducted behavioural observations of mother-reared (n...

Wilson-Welder, J. H., Frank, A. T. 2021. Use of food enrichment for medication delivery in large groups of sheep. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(3) (May/June), 40-43.

In a 2018 AALAS webinar on Sheep and Goat Analgesia, Dr. Susie Vogel, a small ruminant expert, introduced the concept of getting sheep and goats to willingly take medication by putting it in a tasty...

Fernández-Lázaro, G., Dye, M. H., Eddie,C. et al. 2021. Strepsirrhine primate training programs in North American institutions: Status and implications for future welfare assessment. Animals 11(8), 2462.

Many articles have shown the benefits of operant conditioning training techniques in the care and welfare of several species of nonhuman primates; however, the information regarding their use in strepsirrhine species is scarce. We assessed...

Hambrecht, S., Oerke, A.-K., Heistermann, M. et al. 2021. Effects of positive reinforcement training and novel object exposure on salivary cortisol levels under consideration of individual variation in captive African elephants (Loxodonta africana). Animals 11(12), 3525.

Dealing with potential stress in species that have high husbandry requirements, such as elephants, is a challenge for zoos. The objective of the present study was to determine whether positive reinforcement training (PRT) and exposure...

Melfi, V. A., Dorey, N. R., Ward, S. (Eds.) 2020. Zoo Animal Learning and Training. John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, 384 pp.

Comprehensively explains animal learning theories and current best practices in animal training within zoos. This accessible, up-to-date book on animal training in a zoo/aquaria context provides a unified approach to zoo animal learning, bringing together...

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...

Schiffmann, C., Hård, T., Hjelm, M. et al. 2020. Soft and persistent—The influence of sand-flooring and calves on the resting behavior of a zoo-kept African elephant (Loxodonta africana) group. Zoo Biology 39(1), 56-62.

Caring for all aspects of zoo elephants’ well-being is considered a major challenge. Providing an appropriate flooring substrate to facilitate lying rest presents a meaningful part of a holistic management concept. Investigating the impact of...

Hambrecht, S., Oerke, A.‐K., Heistermann, M. et al. 2020. Diurnal variation of salivary cortisol in captive African elephants (Loxodonta africana) under routine management conditions and in relation to a translocation event. Zoo Biology 39(3), 186–196.

The present study assessed the diurnal variation in salivary cortisol in captive African elephants during routine management (baseline) and in relation to a potential stressor (translocation) to evaluate to what extent acute stress may affect...

Reinhardt, V. (ed.) 2020. It’s Okay to Cry - Discussions by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum [LAREF], Volume V. Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC.

This is the 5th volume of selected discussions that took place on the electronic Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum between February 2016 and December 2019. The forum was created in October 2002; it allows...

Acharya, R., Rault, J.-L. 2020. Risk factors for feather-damaging behavior in companion parrots: A social media study. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 40, 43-49.

Studies on the etiology of behavioral problems often involve interference in the animal's routine or reliance on owners' self-reports like surveys. Gathering data from videos posted on social media, a technique coined ‘video mining’, offers...

Callealta, I., Lueders, I., Luther-Binoir, I. et al. 2020. Positive reinforcement conditioning as a tool for frequent minimally invasive blood and vaginal swab sampling in African lions (Panthera leo). Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 23(4), 508-519.

Information regarding the physiology of African lions is scarce, mainly due to challenges associated with essential routine research procedures. The aim of this experiment was to test the possibility of training six captive lionesses by...

Freitas-de-Melo, A., Ungerfeld, R. 2020. The sex of the offspring affects the lamb and ewe responses to abrupt weaning. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 229, 105008.

Female lambs have a stronger attachment with their mothers and show a greater susceptibility to stressors than male lambs. Male lambs grow faster than female lambs do, achieving a greater nutritional independence from their mothers...

Estien, C., O’Connell, C., Francis, X. et al. 2020. Temporary behavioral responses to playbacks by a pest parrot and implications for management. Animal Behavior and Cognition 9(4), 363–384.

Human-wildlife interactions continue to increase due to anthropogenic disturbances, with some interactions resulting in conflict. Leveraging a taxa’s bias for a particular sensory cue is a promising management avenue for reducing the potential and realized...

Butler, J. L., Kennerley, S. W. 2019. Mymou: A low-cost, wireless touchscreen system for automated training of nonhuman primates. Behaviour Research Methods 51, 2559–2572.

Training nonhuman primates (NHPs) to perform cognitive tasks is essential for many neuroscientific investigations, yet laboratory training is a time-consuming process with inherent limitations. Habituating NHPs to the laboratory staff and experimental equipment can take...

Neal Webb, S. J., Hau, J., Schapiro, S. J. et al. 2019. Relationships between captive chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) welfare and voluntary participation in behavioural studies. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 214, 102-109.

Voluntary participation in behavioural studies offers several scientific, management, and welfare benefits to non-human primates (NHPs). Aside from the scientific benefit of increased understanding of NHP cognition, sociality, and behaviour derived from noninvasive behavioural studies...