2022/05/26 by Brenna Knaebe, Knaebe, Brenna, Claudia C. Weiss +5
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Veterinary · #Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies #Animal testing and alternatives #FOS: Biological sciences #Human-Animal Interaction Studies #Neurons and Cognition (q-bio.NC)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2205.13460
openalex publication_date 2022/05/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Recent years have witnessed major advances in the ability of computerized systems to track the positions of animals as they move through large and unconstrained environments. These systems have so far been a great boon in the fields of primatology, psychology, neuroscience, and biomedicine. Here, we discuss the promise of these technologies for animal welfare. Their potential benefits include identifying and reducing pain, suffering, and distress in captive populations, improving laboratory animal welfare within the context of the three Rs of animal research (reduction, refinement, and replacement), and applying our understanding of animal behavior to increase the natural behaviors in captive and wild populations facing human impact challenges. We note that these benefits are often incidental to the designed purpose of these tracking systems, a reflection of the fact that animal welfare is not inimical to research progress, but instead, that the aligned interests between basic research and welfare hold great promise for improvements to animal well-being.