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. 
Bigiani, S., Pilenga, C. 2024. A fast technique to induce and measure anticipatory behavior in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 27(1), 137–149.

Anticipatory behavior describes the actions taken to prepare for an upcoming event. It is considered a promising tool for welfare assessment, but it is not fully applied in zoos and other facilities. This is probably...

Jessica, C.-G., Buendía-González, L., Ruiz-Gómez, M. L. et al. 2024. A minimally invasive procedure for blood extraction from Xenopus laevis allows follow up studies without euthanasia. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 27(1), 192–199.

Blood extraction is extremely important for the development of scientific research; however, the existing methods for amphibian´s blood sampling are invasive, mainly leading to the euthanasia of the animal. Therefore, less intrusive methods that allow...

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...

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...

Danforth, M. D., Clyde, V. L., Jourdan, B. et al. 2023. Blood pressure monitoring in zoologically managed bonobos (Pan paniscus). American Journal of Primatology 85(3), e23474.

In response to the growing evidence that hypertension may play a significant role in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in bonobos, the Great Ape Heart Project established a finger blood pressure (BP) monitoring protocol...

Bigiani, S., Pilenga, C. 2023. Using anticipatory behavior as preference test in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 26(2), 247–255.

The preference tests have made a great contribution to promoting animal welfare. However, they are not always easily applicable and have some criticalities. Recently the anticipatory behavior has been used to detect the animals’ preference...

Nicolis, I. N., Beale, C. N., Bidot, W. A. et al. 2022. Performance and consistency of circulating warm water blankets for rodents. JAALAS 61(1), 96-100.

General anesthesia as used for rodent research can have adverse effects on physiologic mechanisms. Thermoregulation is often greatly inhibited, with resultant deleterious effects on cardiac and respiratory function. These potential effects can be mitigated by...

Schilling, A.-K., Mazzamuto, M. V., Romeo, C. 2022. A review of non-invasive sampling in wildlife disease and health research: What’s new? Animals 12(13), 1719.

In the last decades, wildlife diseases and the health status of animal populations have gained increasing attention from the scientific community as part of a One Health framework. Furthermore, the need for non-invasive sampling methods...

Böswald, L. F., Matzek, D., Mohr, H. et al. 2022. Morphometrics of Xenopus laevis kept as laboratory animals. Animals 12(21), 2986.

Morphometric data that provide information on body conditions can be used to monitor the health and well-being of animals. In laboratory animals, they can help to evaluate the stress due to experiments or treatments, following...

Edes, A. N., Zimmerman, D., Jourdan, B. et al. 2022. Value ranges and clinical comparisons of serum DHEA-S, IL-6, and TNF-α in western lowland gorillas. Animals 12(19), 2705.

Physiological data can provide valuable information about the health and welfare of animals. Unfortunately, few validated assays and a lack of information on species-typical levels of circulating biomarkers for wildlife make the measurement, interpretation, and...

Leeds, A., Boyer, D., Ross, S. R. et al. 2021. Patterns of wounding in mixed-sex social groups of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 236, 105226.

Long-term, multi-institutional assessments have become a reliable tool for evaluating patterns of wounding in zoo-living primates, with results informing on best practices for species-specific care protocols and population management strategies. For western lowland gorillas (Gorilla...

Reckendorf, A., Schmicke, M., Bunskoek, P. et al. 2021. Is harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) exhaled breath sampling suitable for hormonal assessments? Animals 11(3), 907.

Over the last decades, exhaled breath sampling has been established for laboratory analysis in various cetacean species. Due to their small size, the usability of respiratory vapor for hormone assessments was questionable in harbor porpoises...

Úbeda, Y., Ortín, S., Robeck, T. R. et al. 2021. Personality of killer whales (Orcinus orca) is related to welfare and subjective well-being. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 237, 105297.

Questionnaires are very useful tools when it comes to assessing zoo based animal measures and caretakers of these animals (such as keepers, trainers and veterinarians) are in the best position to provide accurate answers to...

Yolles, J. N., Lee-Stubbs, R. B. 2021. Comparison of direct and indirect methods of measuring arterial blood pressure in healthy, anesthetized African green monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops). JAALAS 60(2), 229-237.

Quantitative blood pressure measurement is a critical parameter for assessing cardiovascular health, monitoring physiologic status under anesthesia, and making clinical decisions. The placement of an arterial catheter is the most accurate way to measure blood...

Edes, A. N., Brand, C. M. 2021. Age, sex, and inflammatory markers predict chronic conditions, cardiac disease, and mortality among captive western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Primates 62(6), 931-943.

In humans, inflammatory markers predict health risks. As great apes experience many similar conditions, measuring inflammation may provide valuable health information. We examined four serum inflammatory markers in zoo-housed gorillas (n = 48): albumin, CRP, IL-6, and...

Zemanova, M. A. 2020. Towards more compassionate wildlife research through the 3Rs principles: Moving from invasive to noninvasive methods. Wildlife Biology 2020(1), no page numbers.

Research in ecology and wildlife biology remains crucial for increasing our knowledge and improving species management and conservation in the midst of the current biodiversity crisis. However, obtaining information on population status often involves invasive...

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...

Cloutier Barbour, C., Danforth, M. D., Murphy, H. et al. 2020. Monitoring great ape heart health through innovative electrocardiogram technology: Training methodologies and welfare implications. Zoo Biology 39(6), 443-447.

Assessing and treating cardiovascular disease (or heart disease) is a growing concern for institutions housing great apes, as it is a major cause of mortality in all four taxa managed in human care. As part...

McFarland, R., Barrett, L., Fuller, A. et al. 2020. Infrared thermography cannot be used to approximate core body temperature in wild primates. American Journal of Primatology 82, e23204.

Understanding the physiological processes that underpin primate performance is key if we are to assess how a primate might respond when navigating new and changing environments. Given the connection between a mammal's ability to thermoregulate...

Serres, A., Robeck, T., Deng, X. et al. 2020. Social, reproductive and contextual influences on fecal glucocorticoid metabolites in captive Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 1(1), 24–41.

Although the use of fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGCM) measurements as non-invasive biomarkers for the stress response in mammals has increased, few studies have been conducted in odontocetes. We investigated if animal sex, age, pregnancy or...

Association of Primate Veterinarians. 2019. Association of Primate Veterinarians’ Position Statement: Cerebrospinal fluid aspiration for nonhuman primates in biomedical research. JAALAS 58(4), 428-429.

The Association of Primate Veterinarians (APV) recognizes that CSF collection may be required for both clinical and research purposes in nonhuman primates (NHP). Because there are inherent risks associated with the technique, the laboratory animal...

Ishizuka, S., Kawamoto, Y., Toda, K. et al. 2019. Bonobos’ saliva remaining on the pith of terrestrial herbaceous vegetation can serve as non-invasive wild genetic resources. Primates 60(1), 7–13.

Evaluating the genetic diversity of natural populations of endangered species is important for conservation. Although the genetic analysis of wildlife usually requires collecting DNA non-invasively, the variety of non-invasive DNA sampling methods is limited for...

Serres, A., Delfour, F. 2019. Social behaviors modulate bottlenose dolphins’ (Tursiops truncatus) breathing rate. Animal Behavior and Cognition 6(2), 127–140.

Breathing frequency is a non-invasive physiological measure that brings valuable information on the bottlenose dolphins’ internal state and behaviors. When combined with behavioral observations, it helps to better understand and interpret relevant behaviors. The present...

Fuller, G., Allard, S. 2018. Preliminary data showing potential for salivary C-reactive protein as an indicator of welfare in western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Journal of Veterinary Behavior 28, 58-62.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute phase protein often used as a biomarker for inflammation related to acute trauma or chronic illness. Animal studies showing elevations in CRP following events such as road transport and...

Unakafov, A. M., Möller, S., Kagan, I. et al. 2018. Using imaging photoplethysmography for heart rate estimation in non-human primates. PLOS ONE 13(8), e0202581.

For humans and for non-human primates heart rate is a reliable indicator of an individual’s current physiological state, with applications ranging from health checks to experimental studies of cognitive and emotional state. In humans, changes...