Ethics Guidelines

The following points must apply to all procedures and contributions in ManyOtters studies:

No study conducted as part of ManyOtters will use any invasive methods.

All participating researchers answer to an ethics committee which approves the study and is named in the respective publication.

We will only work with accredited facilities that meet the animal welfare criteria or well being (such as, AZA, EAZA, JAZA, USDA, WAZA).

In addition, contributors confirm that the following points apply:

In managed care settings, the research facility provides the best possible housing conditions, enrichment and husbandry (incl. veterinary care) care for their animals. Best conditions are species specific, but adhere in any case to the 5 domains.

Researchers are committed to prioritize animal welfare aims, such as enrichment, over research aims.

Participation in ManyOtters studies at the facility is not elicited by depriving animals of food and/or water.

Some ManyOtters studies have additional ethical regulations. In this case, ethical questions about participation are handled by the Leadership Team. Ethics decisions always include representatives for the different data collection settings (field site, sanctuary, university, zoo) but may include different people for different studies.

* These guidelines have been adapted from ManyPrimates