Capitanio, J. P., Mendoza, S. P., McChesney, M. 1996. Influences of blood sampling procedures on basal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal hormone levels and leukocyte values in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Journal of Medical Primatology 25(1), 26-33.

Differences in housing location and the amount of room disturbance associated with blood sampling have a significant impact on cell counts, but not on ACTH or cortisol levels. We believe that the critical factor that explains our housing location results is the presence of the window in the left-most door separating the housing room from the work room, thereby giving animals close to the window visual access to personnel. Time lapse from room entry to completion of blood collection [disturbance time] ranged from 1-20 minutes.