Handbook of Primate Husbandry and Welfare

Laboratory …, 2009

Preface: Whenever animals are used in research, minimizing pain and distress and promoting good welfare should be as important an objective as achieving the experimental results. This is important for humanitarian reasons, for good science, for economic ...

Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens

This review commentary focuses on traditional management practices and facility design with suggested improvements in non-public primate management areas, often called “back-of-house”, (henceforth BOH) in zoos, sanctuaries, and research facilities. Progress has been made toward improving animal quality of life in larger, more naturalistic, and enriched indoor and outdoor display areas. However, the quality of life in BOH areas has improved little in comparison. Basic management, regulatory, structural, and spatial BOH environments are lagging, especially in the developing world, and animals may be confined in less enriching spaces for substantial periods of the 24 h day. We reviewed traditional management policy and practice, as well as newer training, enrichment, and welfare policies and actions, and suggested alternatives for structural environments and spatial environments. The suggestions included using more animal-friendly construction materials and animal–computer interaction,...

Journal of Applied Animal …, 2002

Laboratory Animals, 2009

A summary overview of the varying forms of enrichment used in zoological institutions to promote the mental well-being of captive primates.

Ciência Rural, 2001

Captivity is an extreme non-natural environment for primates. The success of a breeding colony depends of management and veterinarian procedures which must rely on the knowledge of primates' behavioral needs. Environmental enrichment consists of a series of procedures that improve the quality of life of captive animals by meeting their ethological needs. Enrichment can reduce stress, while increasing animal well being in captivity. Suitable ethical conditions, incidences of behavioral disorders, minimal clinical interventions, low mortality, higher reproduction rates and cost/benefit relationship, reflect directly on the quality of captive breeding colonies. Anthropoids like Neotropical primates possess complex neural structures and relate, in a sophisticated manner, to the environment. This review reports important experiences on enrichment procedures for Neotropical primates and the physiological events which could explain improvement of animal well-being.

Laboratory Animals, 1995

2007

s NC3Rs Primate Welfare Meeting 2007 New housing for cynomolgus monkeys at a contract research organisation Dr John Finch Charles River Laboratories, Edinburgh Over the last few years the contract research industry has faced a universally predicted increase in demand for its services across the board, but especially from small companies without in-house resource. Increasingly, these firms have been developing new treatments based on using antibodies targeted against chronic diseases, especially cancer. This trend is likely to lead to an increase in the use of monkeys for safety assessment and also to an increase in the use of mature animals. At the same time, the Council of Europe has been considering its recommendations for housing of monkeys in research laboratories and has come up with a set of proposals that acknowledges the physiological and psychological needs of these intelligent and emotional animals. Laboratories must be as certain as they can be that each and every monkey ...

Animal Technology and …, 2005

Training using positive reinforcement is increasingly recognised as a valuable tool for the humane and effective management and use of laboratory-housed non-human primates. We utilised a mixed-mode questionnaire to survey use of training and other learning processes (socialisation, habituation and desensitisation) in over half of UK establishments using and breeding primates. The survey demonstrated that there is widespread awareness of training as a refinement technique and appreciation of its diverse benefits, but training is not used as widely or as fully as it might be. This is due to real constraints (principally staff and time and a lack of confidence in ability to train), and perceived constraints (such as a supposed lack of published information on how to train and assessment of the benefits, and an overestimation of the time investment needed). There is also considerable variation between establishments in the purposes of training and techniques used, with a reliance on negative reinforcement in some. We conclude that there is opportunity for refinement of common scientific, veterinary and husbandry procedures (such as blood and urine collection, injection, capture from the group and weighing) through use of positive reinforcement training, especially when combined with appropriate socialisation, habituation and desensitisation. We end this paper with recommendations on best practice, training techniques and staff education.

Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice, 2012