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Guidelines for the treatment of animals in behavioural research and teaching

Behavioural studies are of great importance in increasing our understanding and appreciation of animals. In addition to providing knowledge about the diversity and complexity of behaviour in nature, such studies also provide information crucial to improvements in the welfare of animals maintained in laboratories, agricultural settings and zoos, and as companion animals. The use of animals in behavioural research and teaching does, however, raise important ethical issues. While many behavioural studies are noninvasive and involve only observations of animals in their natural habitat, some research questions cannot be addressed without manipulation of animals. Studies of captive animals necessarily involve keeping animals in confinement, at times require that provision is made for trapping and subsequent release of the animals, and manipulative procedures and surgery may be necessary to achieve the aims of the research. Studies of free-living animals in their natural habitats can cause disruption to the animals’ population or the wider ecosystem, particularly if feeding, capture, marking or experimental procedures are involved. While the furthering of scientific knowledge is a proper aim and may itself advance an awareness of human responsibility towards animal life, the investigator must always weigh the potential gain in knowledge against any adverse consequences for the individual animals, populations under study, and the wider ecosystem. This is equally true for the evaluation of animal use in animal behaviour teaching activities. In fact, animal behaviour courses provide an excellent opportunity to introduce students to the ethical obligations a researcher accepts when animals are studied. To help the members make what are sometimes difficult ethical judgements about the procedures involved in the study of animals, the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour and the Animal Behavior Society have formed Ethical and Animal Care Committees, respectively. These committees jointly produced the following guidelines for the use of all those who are engaged in behavioural research and teaching activities involving vertebrate and invertebrate animals. These guidelines are general in scope, since the diversity of species and the study techniques used in behavioural research preclude the inclusion of prescriptive standards for animal care and treatment, other than emphasizing the general principle that the best animal welfare is a prerequisite for the best science. The guidelines are used by the Editors of Animal Behaviour in assessing the acceptability or otherwise of submitted manuscripts. Submitted manuscripts may be rejected by an Editor, after consultation with the Ethical or Animal Care Committee, if the content is deemed to violate either the letter or the spirit of the guidelines.