Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 11
Animal Identification and Record Keeping
for Nonhuman Primates: Current Practice
and Use
James C. Ha
National Primate Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Chapter Outline
Introduction
287
Reports and Analyses
290
Animal Identification
287
Day-to-day Management Reports
290
Identification of Individuals
287
Standard Demographic Measures
290
Identification of Pedigree Relationships
288
Monitoring Genetic Management
291
Record Keeping
288
Summary
291
Data and Database Format
289
Acknowledgments
291
Database Structure
289
References
292
Minimally Required Registry Data
290
INTRODUCTION
The task of record keeping and tracking the whereabouts,
use, health, and reproductive status of animals is an
important one in most nonhuman primate colonies. Most
managers have found that managing colony information
has grown to be a major part of their operations and that
investment in computer hardware, software, and personnel
has expanded accordingly. This situation has come about
gradually as the value of breeding animals has grown, the
availability of relatively inexpensive imports has declined
or even ceased, and administrative burdens and expenses
have increased with the emergence of ever more intricate
regulatory demands. The larger institutions have had
a longer experience with these issues, but ever more
complex record keeping is now a ubiquitous colony feature
no matter what the size of the population of animals.
been devised to date. Tattooing a number or code is
probably the most common method, but has a major
drawback in that it usually requires the animal to be
immobilized for reading. Tattoos also require periodic
renewal because cutaneous inks tend to diffuse over time,
particularly in growing tissue. Collars and identification
tags make it possible to identify free-ranging individuals
and are used with some New World species and with
baboons, although recent concerns about skin wear have
eliminated this option in some colonies. Nonetheless, tags
are best used in conjunction with tattooing since even the
most rugged attached materials tend to be lost or
destroyed, which may leave the animal otherwise
unidentified. Dye marking is particularly useful for
observations of free-ranging animals at relatively long
distances, but requires frequent renewal as hair is shed.
Freeze branding has been tried occasionally (
Hadow,
1972
), but the technique is unsatisfactory except in short-
haired animals. Small radio frequency microresponders,
called Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags, have
gained increased use. These “chips,” small sealed cylin-
ders about 2 mm in diameter and 8.5
ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION
Identification of Individuals
Fundamental to keeping records is the unambiguous,
permanent identification of individual animals. Unfortu-
nately, no really satisfactory identification method has
23 mm long, are
permanently implanted subcutaneously. They require no
internal battery power, but in a sense “reflect” a coded
e
