Environmental Enrichment

Separating the effects of shelter from additional cage enhancements for group-housed BALB/cJ mice

Enrichment studies with rodents have demonstrated that cage enhancements can improve animal welfare and performance on common behavioral measures, but few studies have compared more than one type of enrichment or controlled for confounds, and some have revealed undesirable effects...

Year Published: 2011Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Swetter, B. J., Karpiak, C. P., Cannon, J. T. 2011. Separating the effects of shelter from additional cage enhancements for group-housed BALB/cJ mice. Neuroscience Letters 495(3), 205-209.

Innovative enrichment for the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus)

As part of the enrichment programme at King's College London (KCL) and in keeping with the guidelines of Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 (ASPA) and the 3R's (Russell and Burch), technologists have taken an active role in designing innovative and...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Battilocchi, M., Fulcher, G., Windsor, Z. et al. 2016. Innovative enrichment for the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). Animal Technology and Welfare 15(2), 136-137.

Enhancing welfare of Zebra finches through the use of environmental enrichment

This article will describe alterations made by the University of Glasgow to increase the welfare of our Zebra finches by providing them with a more complex environment to engage with. It will describe how we have maximised the enrichment potential...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Bird, Finch

Citation: Gray, G. 2016. Enhancing welfare of Zebra finches through the use of environmental enrichment. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(3), 147-150.

Social and environmental enrichment has different effects on ethanol and sucrose consumption in mice

Factors leading to the harmful consumption of substances, like alcohol and sucrose, involve a complex interaction of genes and the environment. While we cannot control the genes we inherit, we can modify our environment. Understanding the role that social and...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Holgate, J. Y., Garcia, H., Chatterjee, S. et al. 2017. Social and environmental enrichment has different effects on ethanol and sucrose consumption in mice. Brain and Behavior 7(8), e00767.

The effects of exercise and calm interactions on in-kennel behavior of shelter dogs

Over-activity, or excessive locomotion and barking in the kennel, may be unattractive to adopters and an indicator of poor welfare of kenneled dogs. The study assessed the efficacy of two common enrichment strategies, providing calm interaction and additional exercise, on...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Dog

Citation: Protopopova, A., Hauser, H., Goldman, K. J. et al. 2018. The effects of exercise and calm interactions on in-kennel behavior of shelter dogs. Behavioural Processes 146, 54-60.

Environmental enrichment in the absence of wheel running produces beneficial behavioural and anti-oxidative effects in rats

The effects of early environmental enrichment (EE) when solving a simple spatial task in adult male rats were assessed. After weaning, rats were housed in pairs in enriched or standard cages (EE and control groups) for two and a half...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Mármol, F., Sánchez, J., Torres, M. N. et al. 2017. Environmental enrichment in the absence of wheel running produces beneficial behavioural and anti-oxidative effects in rats. Behavioural Processes 144, 66-71.

Review: Zebrafish environmental enrichment

Recently environmental enrichment for laboratory housed fish has received increasing levels of attention from a variety of interested parties from hobbyists, through animal technologists and aquaculturists, to scientists. Over the last few years, the growth in use of Zebrafish demonstrates...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Nichols, C., Wilson, C. 2016. Review: Zebrafish environmental enrichment. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 23-25.

Going outside ASPA guidelines

This article will discuss an improved and refined technique used for working and caring for a group of diabetic mice. As a team of animal technologists, academics and named veterinary surgeon, we developed a new husbandry care regime to improve...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Drug/Substance Administration, Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Gardiner, P. 2016. Going outside ASPA guidelines. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 47-52.

Comparison of housing and welfare of group housed rabbits

This poster is based on welfare improvements gained from group housing rabbits in floor pens in the new Antibody Production Facility with a focus on development, behaviours and environmental enrichment in both male and female animals. We established floor pens...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Housing, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rabbit

Citation: Enser, S. 2016. Comparison of housing and welfare of group housed rabbits. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 77-79.

Non-human primate housing facility at Newcastle University

Monkeys first arrived in the Comparative Biology Centre (CBC) at Newcastle University in 2000. They were housed in three small separate units consisting of steel and wooden cages. In 2011 a decision was made to centralise the NHP facilities as...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Baboon, Capuchin, Chimpanzee, Lemur, Macaque, Marmoset, Nonhuman Primate, Other Nonhuman Primate, Owl Monkey, Squirrel Monkey, Vervet (African Green Monkey)

Citation: O'Keefe, S. 2016. Non-human primate housing facility at Newcastle University. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(2), 131-132.