Did you miss the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research’s virtual workshop about animal welfare and wildlife research on February 9-10? You can view the recordings from the workshop, and access PDFs of each speakers’ presentation, at the workshop website.

Discussion topics during the two-day online workshop included perspectives on animal welfare considerations; laws, regulations, and permits associated with fish and wildlife; wild animal population concerns; the role of veterinarians in wildlife research; restraint and handling of animals in the field; and transition of wild animals to captive settings.

Dr. William Bowerman, current vice chair of the OC, was selected earlier this year to serve on the new ILAR Standing Committee on Animal Care and Use. That committee will be undertaking a revision or expansion of The Guide to the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and the February workshop will inform those efforts.  The Guide to the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals is published by ILR and is widely applied to research conducted or funded by the federal government. That guidance document is a suitable standard for biomedical research, but it has little information relevant to wildlife research beyond general principles and is therefore not well suited to wildlife work, particularly fieldwork. With this February workshop and other efforts, the OC is partnering with ILAR to assist them in broadening their guidance to better include the realities of wildlife research.