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...

Ward, S. J., Hosey, G., Williams, E. et al. 2024. Enrichment and animal age, not biological variables, predict positive welfare indicators in zoo-housed carnivores. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 270, 106006.

The development of evidence-based zoo animal welfare science and the use of the “five domains” have inspired zoos to increase animal welfare, particularly recognising positive welfare states. We tested whether natural biology (number of habitats...

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...

Ausderau, K. K., Colman, R. J., Kabakov, S. et al. 2023. Evaluating depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in non-human primates. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 16, 1006065.

Depression and anxiety are some of the most prevalent and debilitating mental health conditions in humans. They can present on their own or as co-morbidities with other disorders. Like humans, non-human primates (NHPs) can develop...

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...

Donald, K., Benedetti, A., Goulart, V. D. L. R. et al. 2023. Environmental enrichment devices are safe and effective at reducing undesirable behaviors in California sea lions and norther elephant seals during rehabilitation. Animals 13(7), 1222.

Environmental enrichment devices (EEDs) have been proven to promote positive wellbeing in zoos and aquariums, and support animals’ reintroduction success; however, their use in rehabilitation centers is still limited. This pilot study investigated the safety...

Martín, J., Barja, I., Rodríguez-Ruiz, G. et al. 2023. Hidden but potentially stressed: A non-invasive technique to quantify fecal glucocorticoid levels in a fossorial amphisbaenian reptile. Animals 13(1), 109.

To understand wildlife responses to the changing environment, it is useful to examine their physiological responses and particularly their endocrine status. Here, we validated an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to non-invasively quantify fecal corticosterone metabolites (FCM)...

Zieliński, D. 2023. The effect of enrichment on leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) housed in two different maintenace systems (rack system vs. Terrarium). Animals 13(6), 1111.

The aim of this study was to test the usefulness of environmental enrichment for Eublepharis macularius depending on the maintenance method (terrarium vs. rack system). The hypothesis was that reptiles kept in an extremely low-stimulus...

Goswami, S., Tyagi, P. C., Malik, P. K. et al. 2023. Effects of enclosure complexity and visitor presence on the welfare of Asiatic lions. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 260, 105853.

In recent years, there has been much research into the individual effects of enclosure complexity and visitor presence on captive animal welfare. However, the inter-linkages between enclosure complexity and visitor presence and their combined influence...

Bradley, H. S., Craig, M. D., Tomlinson, S. et al. 2023. Ecological considerations when designing mitigation translocations: An Australian reptile case study. Animals 13(16), 2594.

Translocation science has made considerable progress over the last two decades; however, reptile translocations still frequently fail around the world. Major knowledge gaps surround the basic ecology of reptile species, including basic factors such as...

Campbell-Ward, M. 2023. Quality-of-life assessments in zoo animals: Not just for the aged and charismatic. Animals 13(21), 3394

Zoos should aim to provide all of their animals with a good quality of life (QoL) throughout all life stages. In parallel with the evolution of QoL assessment questionnaires and tools in human and domestic...

Fernández-Lázaro, G., Latorre, R., Fontanillas Pérez, J. C. et al. 2023. Reaction to novel objects and fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels in two species of nocturnal geckos. Animals 13(21), 3384.

Many reptiles are maintained in captivity and heavily traded, although welfare measures for many species are not well established and are under-researched compared to other animals. In this study, we focused on two of these...

Krönke, F., Xu, L. 2023. Sensory stimulation as a means of sustained enhancement of well-being in leopard geckos, Eublepharis macularius (Eublepharidae, Squamata). Animals 13(23), 3595.

Although the private keeping of reptiles has boomed in most western countries since the millennium, studies dealing with the recognition and promotion of welfare in these reptiles seem to represent a blind spot of scientific...

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...

Roberts, D. L., Eskelinen, H. C., Winship, K. A. et al. 2023. Effects of failure on california sea lion (zalophus californianus) gameplay strategies and interest in a cognitive task: Implications for cognitive enrichment in pinnipeds. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 4(1), 240–255.

Cognitive enrichment for professionally managed species has become more prevalent in recent years in both zoological and research settings and has been encouraged as a means of welfare enhancement. However, the task’s difficulty must be...

Podturkin, A. A., Krebs, B. L., Watters, J. V. 2023. A quantitative approach for using anticipatory behavior as a graded welfare assessment. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 26(3), 463–477.

To perform quick assessments, welfare practitioners may focus on specific behavioral indicators of welfare, which can lead to challenges in interpretation. Anticipatory behavior has been suggested as a potentially graded indicator of well-being in animals...

Radical, A., Normando, S., Ponzio, P. et al. 2023. The effects of the addition of two environmental enrichments on the behavior and fecal cortisol levels of three small felids species (Caracal caracal, Leptailurus serval, Leopardus pardalis) in captivity. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 60, 56–64.

Scientific evidences support the fact that environmental enrichment, when effective, can affect the behavior of animals in captivity in a way suggestive of an improvement in their quality of life. In the internationally published literature...

Truax, J., Vonk, J. 2023. Silence is golden: Auditory preferences in zoo-housed gorillas. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 26(3), 404–419.

Enrichment is presented to improve the welfare of captive animals but sound is frequently presented with the assumption that it is enriching without assessing individuals’ preferences. Typically, presented sounds are unnatural and animals are unable...

Tsuchiya, Y., Yayota, M., Kashima, Y. et al. 2023. Nutritional effect of feeding enrichment using bamboo Pleioblastus spp. in zoo-kept Asian elephants Elephas maximus. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 11(2), 267–273.

Many zoos use browse and other roughage as feed ingredients and enrichment tools for elephants. Amongst these are bamboo species (e.g. Pleioblastus spp.), which belong to the family of grasses. Bamboo is used in zoos...

Brereton, J., Rose, P. 2022. An evaluation of the role of 'biological evidence' in zoo and aquarium enrichment practices. Animal Welfare 31(1), 13-26.

Evidence-based approaches are key to advancing all areas of zoo and aquarium practice. Output from empirical study must be disseminated to those within the industry so that results can support changes to husbandry and management...

Vaz, J., McElligott, A. G., Narayan, E. 2022. Linking the roles of personality and stress physiology for managing the welfare of captive big cats. Animal Welfare 31(1), 99-111.

Animal welfare is important for the humane treatment of animals under our care. Zoos and rescue centres manage various charismatic animals, such as big cats, with limited resources. It is therefore essential for caretakers to...

Tuite, E. K., Moss, S. A., Phillips, C. J. et al. 2022. Why are enrichment practices in zoos difficult to implement effectively? Animals 12(5), 554.

The good intentions of zoos to introduce enrichment practices that stimulate animals mentally and physically are not always achievable. Changes to the policies and procedures in organisations are difficult to fulfil for a range of...

Vonk, J., Truax, J., McGuire, M. C. 2022. A food for all seasons: Stability of food preferences in gorillas across testing methods and seasons. Animals 12(6), 685.

Decisions about which foods to use during training and enrichment for captive animals may be based on invalid assumptions about individuals’ preferences. It is important to assess the stability of food preferences given that one-time...

Medina, A. 2022. Creative enrichment for nonhuman primates. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(1) (January/February), 42-43.

Providing novel and creative enrichments for nonhuman primates improves their mental wellbeing and is thus an important aspect of all husbandry programs. These enrichments are often presented through variations in diet, toys, and environmental features...

Buchanan, K. 2022. DIY: Ants on a log. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(1) (January/February), 44.

This traditional snack has a variety of options for NHP enrichment. From fruit to cereals, get creative with the “ants” and remember to consider different fillings for the celery log.