Environmental Enrichment

Novel ferret enrichment: Ferrets have a ball

The best types of enrichment for lab animals are ones that encourage the expression of positive species-specific behavior. Ferrets were domesticated for their hunting prowess to control vermin and ability to tunnel narrow holes to ferret out prey. To satisfy...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Ferret

Citation: Madera, N., Adams, D., Offord, S. et al. 2022. Novel ferret enrichment: Ferrets have a ball. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(6) (November/December), 40-42.

Spatial cognition in zebrafish: The role of strain and rearing environment

Two strains of zebrafish, WIK and a second-generation wild strain were reared in either a structurally simple or complex environment and compared in their ability to locate a food reward in a five-chambered maze. There was a significant interaction within...

Year Published: 2011Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Spence, R., Magurran, A. E., Smith, C. 2011. Spatial cognition in zebrafish: The role of strain and rearing environment. Animal Cognition 14(4), 607–612.

Report of the 2022 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group Meeting

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 29 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues and share experiences of the implementation of the 3Rs...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental Enrichment, Euthanasia, HandlingAnimal Type: Mouse, Other Rodent, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Stevens, C., Hammonds, T., Hinchcliffe, J. et al. 2023. Report of the 2022 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group Meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 22(2), 91–100.

Insensitivity to reward shifts in zebrafish (Danio rerio) and implications for assessing affective states

Theory and empirical findings predict that individuals in a negative affective state are more sensitive to unexpected reward loss and less sensitive to unexpected reward gain compared to individuals in a neutral or positive affective state. We explore the use...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Tan, S. L. T., Handasyde, K. A., Rault, J.-L. et al. 2020. Insensitivity to reward shifts in zebrafish (Danio rerio) and implications for assessing affective states. Animal Cognition 23(1), 87–100

Rat playpens—The effect on welfare, technical time and budget

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Tough, B. 2023, August. Rat playpens—The effect on welfare, technical time and budget. Animal Technology and Welfare 22(2), 156–157.

Effects of early noise exposure on hippocampal-dependent behaviors during adolescence in male rats: Influence of different housing conditions

Central nervous system (CNS) development is a very complex process that can be altered by environmental stimuli such as noise, which can generate long-term auditory and/or extra-auditory impairments. We have previously reported that early noise exposure can induce hippocampus-related behavioral...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Molina, S. J., Lietti, Á. E., Carreira Caro, C. S. et al. 2022. Effects of early noise exposure on hippocampal-dependent behaviors during adolescence in male rats: Influence of different housing conditions. Animal Cognition 25(1), 103–120.

Social visual contact, a primary “drive” for social animals?

Social animals are always searching for conspecifics, thereby expressing a genuine “social need”. This need is illustrated by the fact that social isolation can induce isolation syndromes that can be attenuated by devices such as mirrors. Social contacts appear to...

Year Published: 2015Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Bird, Other Bird

Citation: Perret, A., Henry, L., Coulon, M. et al. 2015. Social visual contact, a primary “drive” for social animals? Animal Cognition 18(3), 657–666.

Effects of early and later life environmental enrichment and personality on attention bias in pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus)

We investigated effects of early and later life housing on attention bias, as an indicator of affective state, in pigs differing in coping style [reactive (LR) vs. proactive (HR)]. Pigs (n = 128) in barren or enriched housing from birth (B1 vs....

Year Published: 2019Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Luo, L., Reimert, I., de Haas, E. N. et al. 2019. Effects of early and later life environmental enrichment and personality on attention bias in pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus). Animal Cognition 22(6), 959–972.

Effects of early life and current housing on sensitivity to reward loss in a successive negative contrast test in pigs

Animals in a negative affective state seem to be more sensitive to reward loss, i.e. an unexpected decrease in reward size. The aim of this study was to investigate whether early-life and current enriched vs. barren housing conditions affect the...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Luo, L., Reimert, I., Graat, E. A. M. et al. 2020. Effects of early life and current housing on sensitivity to reward loss in a successive negative contrast test in pigs. Animal Cognition 23(1), 121–130.

Clicker training as an applied refinement measure in chickens

When using chickens in animal studies, the handling of these animals for sample collection or general examinations is considered stressful due to their prey nature. For the study presented here, plasma and salivary corticosterone as well as New Area Test...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Animal Training, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Mählis, G., Kleine, A., Lüschow, D. et al. 2023. Clicker training as an applied refinement measure in chickens. Animals 13(24), 3836.