Welfare Assessment

Posture as a non-invasive indicator of arousal in American toads (Anaxyrus americanus)

Animal welfare has become a priority for modern zoos and aquariums. However, amphibians have not yet been the focus of much welfare research, perhaps in part because they do not tend to display many quantifiable active behaviors. This study focused...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Amphibian, Frog & Toad

Citation: Woody, S. M., Santymire, R. M., Cronin, K. A. 2021. Posture as a non-invasive indicator of arousal in American toads (Anaxyrus americanus). Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 2(1), 1–9.

Behavioral correlates of 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in rats: Progressive operant discrimination learning reduces frequency modulation and increases overall amplitude

Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in rats are thought to contain ecological signals reflecting emotional states. These USVs are centered on 50-kHz, and frequency modulation (FM) is hypothesized to indicate positive emotion; however, results from recent studies are inconsistent with this hypothesis....

Year Published: 2014Topics: Vocalization, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Yuki, S., Okanoya, K. 2014. Behavioral correlates of 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in rats: Progressive operant discrimination learning reduces frequency modulation and increases overall amplitude. Animal Behavior and Cognition 1(4), 452–463.

The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other Research Animals (9th ed.)

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 Research Animals delivers an up-to-date...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Animal Training, Environmental Enrichment, Euthanasia, Housing, Husbandry & Management, Natural Behavior, Relocation & Transport, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Amphibian, Bird, Capuchin, Cat, Cattle, Cephalopod, Crustacean, Dog, Equine, Ferret, Finch, Fish, Fowl, Frog & Toad, Gerbil, Goat, Guinea Pig, Hamster, Invertebrate, Lizard, Macaque, Marmoset, Mole Rat, Mouse, Nonhuman Primate, Other Animal, Other Bird, Other Fish, Other Nonhuman Primate, Other Rodent, Pig, Rabbit, Rat, Reptile, Rodent, Sheep, Snake, Tree Shrew, Turtle & Tortoise, Vervet (African Green Monkey), Zebrafish

Citation: 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 glass is not yet half empty: Agitation but not Varroa treatment causes cognitive bias in honey bees

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are prone to judge an ambiguous stimulus negatively if they had been agitated through shaking which simulates a predator attack. Such a cognitive bias has been suggested to reflect an internal emotional state analogous to humans...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Husbandry & Management, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Insect & Spider, Invertebrate

Citation: Schlüns, H., Welling, H., Federici, J. R. et al. 2017. The glass is not yet half empty: Agitation but not Varroa treatment causes cognitive bias in honey bees. Animal Cognition 20(2), 233–241.

Social behaviors modulate bottlenose dolphins’ (Tursiops truncatus) breathing rate

Breathing frequency is a non-invasive physiological measure that brings valuable information on the bottlenose dolphins' internal state and behaviors. When combined with behavioral observations, it helps to better understand and interpret relevant behaviors. The present study aimed to investigate some...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Marine Mammal

Citation: Serres, A., Delfour, F. 2019. Social behaviors modulate bottlenose dolphins' (Tursiops truncatus) breathing rate. Animal Behavior and Cognition 6(2), 127–140.

Classification of multiple emotional states from facial expressions in head-fixed mice using a deep learning-based image analysis

Facial expressions are widely recognized as universal indicators of underlying internal states in most species of animals, thereby presenting as a non-invasive measure for assessing physical and mental conditions. Despite the advancement of artificial intelligence-assisted tools for automated analysis of...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Tanaka, Y., Nakata, T., Hibino, H. et al. 2023. Classification of multiple emotional states from facial expressions in head-fixed mice using a deep learning-based image analysis. PLOS ONE 18(7), e0288930.

Mechanisms underlying cognitive bias in nonhuman primates

Recent research in nonhuman animals highlights the exciting possibility that performance on cognitive bias tasks might indirectly measure an individual's subjective, affective state. Subjects first learn to perform a conditional discrimination task with two differentially reinforced responses, and then intermediate,...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Capuchin, Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Perdue, B. 2017. Mechanisms underlying cognitive bias in nonhuman primates. Animal Behavior and Cognition 4(1), 105–118.

Stereotypic head twirls, but not pacing, are related to a ‘pessimistic’-like judgment bias among captive tufted capuchins (Cebus apella)

Abnormal stereotypic behaviour is widespread among captive non-human primates and is generally associated with jeopardized well-being. However, attributing the same significance to all of these repetitive, unvarying and apparently functionless behaviours may be misleading, as some behaviours may be better...

Year Published: 2012Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Capuchin, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Pomerantz, O., Terkel, J., Suomi, S. J. et al. 2012. Stereotypic head twirls, but not pacing, are related to a ‘pessimistic'-like judgment bias among captive tufted capuchins (Cebus apella). Animal Cognition 15(4), 689–698.

Evidence-based comparative severity assessment in young and adult mice

In animal-based research, welfare assessments are essential for ethical and legal reasons. However, accurate assessment of suffering in laboratory animals is often complicated by the multidimensional character of distress and pain and the associated affective states. The present study aimed...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Reiber, M., Schumann, L. von, Buchecker, V. et al. 2023. Evidence-based comparative severity assessment in young and adult mice. PLOS ONE 18(10), e0285429.

Judgement bias in pigs is independent of performance in a spatial holeboard task and conditional discrimination learning

Biases in judgement of ambiguous stimuli, as measured in a judgement bias task, have been proposed as a measure of the valence of affective states in animals. We recently suggested a list of criteria for behavioural tests of emotion, one...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Roelofs, S., Murphy, E., Ni, H. et al. 2017. Judgement bias in pigs is independent of performance in a spatial holeboard task and conditional discrimination learning. Animal Cognition 20(4), 739–753.