Frequently Asked Questions

Animals in our care have regular access to veterinary and clinical care to ensure that their physical health is optimized. This includes regular physical exams and dental care.

Animals on research protocols in Seattle are usually housed indoors although there are some exceptions for certain species and studies. Experts that understand animal behavior and naturalistic environments are involved in helping us to support Functionally Appropriate Captive Environments (FACE). Based on these expert opinions we work to provide an environment for the animals that optimizes their psychological well-being and supports the scientific objective.

At this point in time animals are housed indoors for most of our scientific studies for the following reasons:

1. Controlled experimental conditions: Conducting research indoors provides better control over the experimental conditions, allowing researchers to manipulate variables precisely. This is critical for our commitment to rigor and reproducibility. We must understand how every variable may be influencing our scientific question. For example, consistent lighting is critical to ensure that the animals have a proper light:dark cycle that would correlate more closely to their natural environment (so they can rest and sleep) and to ensure that changes in the lighting are not impacting the scientific data.
2. Research validity: Conducting research in controlled indoor environments enhances the validity of the results. Researchers can more accurately measure and assess the effects of specific interventions or treatments without the confounding variables that might be present in outdoor or natural lighting settings. We also need to be able to clearly describe the living conditions of the animals for other organizations to be able to replicate our data.
3. Behavioral studies: Indoor housing allows researchers to closely observe and document the behaviors of animals in a controlled environment. This is especially important for studies related to social interactions, cognition, and behavior, where researchers need to monitor subjects without external disturbances.
4. Health and well-being: housing the animals indoors provides a controlled environment that protects the animals from environmental stressors, including extreme weather conditions, parasites, predators, and diseases. It also allows researchers to maintain optimal temperatures, humidity, and air quality, reducing the risk of health issues and external variables that can influence their scientific outcome.
5. Disease control: By housing animals indoors, researchers can minimize the risk of exposure to infectious diseases that might be carried by wild animals or insects. The controlled environment helps prevent spread of disease and ensures the health of the animals is not compromised.
6. Regulatory compliance: As stated above there are regulations and guidelines in place to ensure that the animals that are housed indoors are provided a controlled and monitored environment that meets nationally agreed upon welfare standards.
7. Other considerations: For some research projects housing animals in an indoor environment and ensuring a more controlled environment where animals have consistent access to food, water and shelter is more humane and minimizes potential harm and stress.

Our environmental enrichment program is specifically designed to support the psychological well-being of the animals. Our enrichment program is founded in science and expert evaluation of whether our behavioral husbandry program is effectively providing enrichment for the animals.

Not all animals have access to the “play areas”. There are several reasons for this:

• Access to modular enclosures: we have modular enclosures so, when possible, we can expand the existing living space to give the animals access to more vertical and horizontal space. This is preferable to the “play area” since it gives 24/7 access to the additional space.
• Scientific reasons: there may be a scientific reason why an animal does not go to a “play area” or because they are involved in other activities access to a “play area” may not be possible.
• Space constraints: we would like to move toward larger group housing enclosures where animals would not need access to the “play areas” because their living quarters would be larger. This will take money to renovate all our facilities to this type of housing.
• Staffing resources and time: there would need to be additional resources set aside to specifically move the “play areas” to the different rooms for the animals.