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...

Kannan, G., Batchu, P., Naldurtiker, A. et al. 2023. Habituation to livestock trailer and its influence on stress responses during transportation in goats. Animals 13(7), 1191.

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of habituation to livestock trailers on stress responses in goats transported for long periods. Intact male Spanish goats (12-month old; BW = 31.6 ± 0.34 kg; N...

Kumar, P., Abubakar, A. A., Ahmed, M. A. et al. 2023. Electroencephalogram and physiological responses as affected by slaughter empathy in goats. Animals 13(6), 1100.

Recent advances in emotions and cognitive science make it imperative to assess the emotional stress in goats at the time of slaughter. The present study was envisaged to study the electroencephalogram and physiological responses as...

Pallieres, C. G. D., Rose, P. E. 2023. Two’s company, three species is a crowd? A webcam-based study of the behavioural effects of mixed-species groupings in the wild and in the zoo. PLOS ONE 18(4), e0284221.

Mixed species exhibits in zoos are used to create larger, more stimulating environments to support naturalistic interactions between species. In the wild, mixed species groups are observed as having lower rates of vigilance, presumably due...

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...

Mitin, H., Idrus, Z., Meng, G. Y. et al. 2023. Effects of positive human contact on fear and physiological stress responses in Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus) subjected to crating and transport. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 269, 106108.

A growing body of research shows that farm animals frequently seek and enjoy human interaction. However, there is a lack of information on how positive human contact affects ducks’ stress and fear responses. An experiment...

Schreier, A. L., Readyhough, T. S., Moresco, A. et al. 2023. Social dynamics of a newly integrated bachelor group of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus): Welfare implications. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 26(2), 229–246.

Male associations are a typical component of elephant society, allowing bulls to practice appropriate social behavior. To improve zoo elephant welfare, it is important to provide bulls with social opportunities. In fall 2018, Denver Zoo...

Lambert, H., Elwin, A., D’Cruze, N. 2022. Frog in the well: A review of the scientific literature for evidence of amphibian sentience. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 247, 105559.

Millions of amphibians are traded annually around the world for the exotic pet industry. Their experience during both trade, and in captivity as pets, leads to numerous animal welfare issues. The poor welfare of many...

Lee, V. E., Arnott, G., Turner, S. P. 2022. Social behavior in farm animals: Applying fundamental theory to improve animal welfare. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 932217.

A fundamental understanding of behavior is essential to improving the welfare of billions of farm animals around the world. Despite living in an environment managed by humans, farm animals are still capable of making important...

Readyhough, T. S., Joseph, S., Davis, M. et al. 2022. Impacts of socialization on bull Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) stereotypical behavior. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 3(1), 113–130.

There is a growing need for animal care institutions to house multiple bull elephants as the population increases due to transfers from private ownership and the births of male offspring in managed care. Elephants in...

Lasky, M., Campbell, J., Osborne, J. A. et al. 2021. Increasing browse and social complexity can improve zoo elephant welfare. Zoo Biology 40(1), 9–19.

While recent work has assessed how environmental and managerial changes influence elephant welfare across multiple zoos, few studies have addressed the effects of management changes within a single institution. In this paper, we examine how...

Travain, T., Valsecchi, P. 2021. Infrared thermography in the study of animals’ emotional responses: A critical review. Animals 11(9), 2510.

Whether animals have emotions was historically a long-lasting question but, today, nobody disputes that they do. However, how to assess them and how to guarantee animals their welfare have become important research topics in the...

Hörner, F., Oerke, A.-K., Müller, D. W. H. et al. 2021. Monitoring behaviour in African elephants during introduction into a new group: Differences between related and unrelated animals. Animals 11(10), 2990.

The introduction of elephants into new groups is necessary for breeding programmes. However, behavioural studies on the reactions of these animals at first encounters are missing. In the present study, female African elephants (Loxodonta africana)...

MacLellan, A., Fureix, C., Polanco, A. et al. 2021. Can animals develop depression? An overview and assessment of “depression-like” states. Behaviour 158(14/15), 1303–1353.

Describing certain animal behaviours as 'depression-like' or 'depressive' has become common across several fields of research. These typically involve unusually low activity or unresponsiveness and/or reduced interest in pleasure (anhedonia). While the term 'depression-like' carefully...

Zemanova, M. A. 2021. Noninvasive genetic assessment is an effective wildlife research tool when compared with other approaches. Genes 12(11), 1672.

Wildlife research has been indispensable for increasing our insight into ecosystem functioning as well as for designing effective conservation measures under the currently high rates of biodiversity loss. Genetic and genomic analyses might be able...

Campbell, D. L. M., Lee, C. 2021. A perspective on strategic enrichment for brain development: Is this the key to animal happiness? Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 720422.

Livestock animals are sentient beings with cognitive and emotional capacities and their brain development, similar to humans and other animal species, is affected by their surrounding environmental conditions. Current intensive production systems, through the restrictions...

Anderson, M. G., Campbell, A. M., Crump, A. et al. 2021. Environmental complexity positively impacts affective states of broiler chickens. Scientific Reports 11(1), 16966.

Affective state can bias an animal’s judgement. Animals in positive affective states can interpret ambiguous cues more positively (“optimistically”) than animals in negative affective states. Thus, judgement bias tests can determine an animal’s affective state...

Sharma, N., Sharma Pokharel, S., Kohshima S. et al. 2020. Behavioural responses of free-ranging Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) towards dying and dead conspecifics. Primates 61(1), 129–138.

Reactions to dying and dead conspecifics have been observed in many non-human animals. Elephants, particularly African elephants, are thought to have an awareness of the death of their conspecifics, as they show compassionate behaviour towards...

Armstrong, E. A., Rufener, C., Toscano, M. J. et al. 2020. Keel bone fractures induce a depressive-like state in laying hens. Scientific Reports 10(1), 3007.

In commercial flocks of laying hens, keel bone fractures (KBFs) are prevalent and associated with behavioural indicators of pain. However, whether their impact is severe enough to induce a depressive-like state of chronic stress is...

Baciadonna, L., Briefer, E. F., McElligott, A. G. 2020. Investigation of reward quality-related behaviour as a tool to assess emotions. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 225, 104968.

Animals are likely to appraise events as positive or negative based on their subjective perception, current state and past experiences. We tested the effects of anticipating positive (food anticipation), negative (inaccessible food) and neutral (clicker...

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...

Veasey, J. 2020. Assessing the psychological priorities for optimising captive Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) welfare. Animals 10(1), 39.

The welfare status of elephants under human care has been a contentious issue for two decades or more in numerous western countries. Much effort has gone into assessing the welfare of captive elephants at individual...

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...

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...

Evison, E., McKenzie, A., Holmes, L. 2020. Social and environmental impacts on sleep in captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). Zoo Biology 39(6), 397-404.

Modern zoos strive to improve standards of animal management, husbandry and welfare of their animals as part of a continual evaluation process. Elephants (Elephantidae) have received particular attention in recent years due to the challenge...