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. 
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...

Williams, E., Carter, A., Hall, C. et al. 2019. Exploring the relationship between personality and social interactions in zoo-housed elephants: Incorporation of keeper expertise. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 221, 104876.

Individual animal personalities affect experiences of zoo environments, and thus potentially welfare. Incorporating keeper knowledge of animal personality in a reliable way has great value in optimising welfare in zoo-housed animals. Assessment of animal personality...

Bloomsmith, M. A., Clay, A. W., Lambeth, S. P. et al. 2019. Survey of behavioral indices of welfare in research chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the United States. JAALAS 58(2), 160-177.

Chimpanzees demand specialized housing and care and the highest degree of attention to animal welfare. The current project used a survey method to collate information on chimpanzee housing and behavioral indices of welfare across all...

ur Rahman, M. A., Xia, C., Ji, L. et al. 2019. Nutrient intake, feeding patterns, and abnormal behavior of growing bulls fed different concentrate levels and a single fiber source (corn stover silage). Journal of Veterinary Behavior 33, 46-53.

Twenty-eight bulls weighing 227 ± 6.8 (SD) kg were randomly assigned to four concentrate levels (1-1.5 kg [low level of concentrate {LC}], 1.5-2 kg [medium level of concentrate], 2-2.5 kg [high level of concentrate {HC}]...

Eichner, M., Garcia, K. 2019. Increase in morbidity and mortality in a shipment of red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans). Laboratory Animals 53(6), 634–640.

A cohort of captive-bred red-eared slider turtles, Trachemys scripta, was received from a commercial vendor. Shortly after arrival, several turtles presented as lethargic with subjectively pale skin and multifocal areas of cotton-like tufts in the...

Green, A., Clark, C., Favaro, L. et al. 2019. Vocal individuality of Holstein-Friesian cattle is maintained across putatively positive and negative farming contexts. Scientific Reports 9, 18468.

Cattle mother-offspring contact calls encode individual-identity information; however, it is unknown whether cattle are able to maintain individuality when vocalising to familiar conspecifics over other positively and negatively valenced farming contexts. Accordingly, we recorded 333...

Egelkamp, C. L., Leahy, M. A., Ross, S. R. et al. 2018. Testing food preferences in zoo-housed apes with touchscreens. American Journal of Primatology 80(S1), 30 (40th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #58).

Preference testing has many benefits, informing both applied management decisions and theoretical questions. We developed a preference‐testing method in which subjects are shown pairs of photographs of food items on a touchscreen in a forced‐choice...

Foris, B., Zebunke, M., Langbein, J. et al. 2018. Evaluating the temporal and situational consistency of personality traits in adult dairy cattle. PLOS ONE 13(10), e0204619.

Recent research suggests that personality, defined as consistent individual behavioral variation, in farm animals could be an important factor when considering their health, welfare, and productivity. However, behavioral tests are often performed individually and they...

Monreal-Pawlowsky, T., Marco-Cabedo, V., Manteca, X. et al. 2017. Environmental enrichment facilitates release and survival of an injured loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) after ten years in captivity. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 5(4), 182-186.

In June 2006 a loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) was admitted to a rescue centre on the Mediterranean coast with severe fishing net entanglement in its fore right flipper. The flipper could not be saved...

Hill, H. M. 2017. The psychology of cows? A case of over-interpretation and personification. Animal Behavior and Cognition 4(4), 506–511.

Reviews of existing literature on topics that have been neglected, such as the subject of the cognitive and affective abilities of cows, are productive and necessary exercises in science (Elwen, Findlay, Kiszka, & Weir, 2011...

Marino, L., Allen, K. 2017. The psychology of cows. Animal Behavior and Cognition 4(4), 474–498

Domestic cows (Bos taurus) are consumed worldwide as beef and veal, kept as dairy product producers, employed as draft animals in labor, and are used for a long list of other products, including leather and...

Yamanashi, Y., Teramoto, M., Morimura, N. et al. 2016. Effects of relocation and individual and environmental factors on the long-term stress levels in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Monitoring hair cortisol and behaviors. PLOS ONE 11(7), e0160029.

Understanding the factors associated with the long-term stress levels of captive animals is important from the view of animal welfare. In this study, we investigated the effects of relocation in addition to individual and environmental...

Bloomsmith, M., Kim, N., Franklin, A. et al. 2015. Positive reinforcement methods to train chimpanzees to cooperate with urine collection. JAALAS 54, 66-69.

Positive reinforcement training can be used in many ways to enhance the welfare of captive primates. Training for biologic sample collection is one application of positive reinforcement training. In this study, 35 adult female chimpanzees...

Reamer, L. A., Haller, R. H., Thiele, E. J. et al. 2014. Factors affecting initial training success of blood glucose testing in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Zoo Biology 33(3), 212-220.

Type 2 diabetes can be a problem for captive chimpanzees. Accurate blood glucose (BG) readings are necessary to monitor and treat this disease. Thus, obtaining voluntary samples from primates through positive reinforcement training (PRT) is...

Kranendonk, G., Schippers, E. P. 2014. A pilot study on the effects of a change in behavioural management on the behaviour of captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 160, 127-137.

The debate on the use of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in biomedical research has been ongoing for several years now. In 2012, the decision was made to retire a large number of laboratory chimpanzees in the...

Speer, B. 2014. Normal and abnormal parrot behavior. Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine 23(3), 230-233.

Behavior and behavior-associated issues are an important part of psittacine medicine. However, many veterinarians have an approach to parrots from the basics of handling and restraint to their assessment of behavioral issues (e.g., feather plucking)...

Reinhardt, V. (ed.) 2013. Compassion Makes a Difference - Discussions by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum [LAREF], Volume III. Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC.

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...

Melfi, V. 2013. Is training zoo animals enriching? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 147, 299-305.

Husbandry training of zoo animals (training) has been associated with many benefits, and indisputably is a valuable tool; training facilitates movement of animals within their environment, and participation in husbandry and medical procedures. Training has...

Breaux, S. D., Breaux, M. B., Fontenot, M. B. 2013. Positive reinforcement training effects on hemogram and chemistry parameters in chimpanzees. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 669 (Abstract #175).

Positive reinforcement training (PRT) is used at various biomedical research facilities and zoos in order to facilitate animal husbandry activities as well as veterinary procedures. Previous research suggests that the use of PRT helps alleviate...

Bloomsmith, M., Franklin, A., Neu, K. et al. 2013. Training time required to collect a variety of biological samples using primarily positive reinforcement training methods. American Journal of Primatology 75(S1), 65. (36th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #112)

Positive reinforcement training (PRT) methods can be applied to gain the voluntary cooperation of laboratory primates with the collection of biological samples. Information will be provided on training techniques used and the amount of training...

Perlman, J. E., Bloomsmith, M. A., Whittaker, M. A. et al. 2012. Implementing positive reinforcement animal training programs at primate laboratories. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 137(3-4), 114-126.

In the last decade several surveys of primate care and training programs highlight a common theme; despite scientific evidence that animal training can be effective in reducing stress, increasing efficiency and improving veterinary care, animal...

Coleman, K. 2012. Individual differences in temperament and behavioral management practices for nonhuman primates. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 137(3-4), 106-113.

This review will examine how individual differences in temperament might affect, or be affected by, behavioral management practices for captive primates. Measuring temperament may help us predict the outcome of social introductions. It can also...

Schapiro, S. J., Lambeth, S. P., Malling, R. et al. 2011. Structures and functions that facilitate the voluntary participation of chimpanzees in research/medical procedures. American Journal of Primatology 73(S1), 35. (34th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #7)

Training captive nonhuman primates to voluntarily participate in a variety of necessary research and medical procedures is a valuable refinement in the management of captive primates. For the purposes of this talk, training programs require...

Watts, A. 2010. Thinking outside the box in box training. Tech Talk [The Newsletter for Laboratory Animal Science Technicians] 15(2), 3.

At the Oregon National Primate Research Center, we train animals to enter transfer boxes using positive reinforcement training (PRT), a type of training in which the trainer reinforces desired behaviors (such asentering the transfer box)...

Perlman, J. E., Lambeth, S. P., Horner, V. et al. 2010. Videotaped demonstrator improves efficiency of training chimpanzees to urinate on cue. American Journal of Primatology 72(S1), 52. (33rd Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #84)

Studies have shown chimpanzees can learn to perform tasks by watching live or videotaped demonstrators. The present study assessed whether female chimpanzees exposed to a videotaped demonstrator would learn a husbandry-related task, urinating into a...