This site is managed by the NC3Rs. Many thanks to the group of experts who have come together to develop and review this resource for the care of laboratory macaques.
The Macaque Website was commissioned and built by the UK's National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) to provide a resource for researchers around the world working with macaques. It includes information on the natural history and behaviour of macaques, their care and management in captivity, and ways to assess their welfare. The overall aim is to help improve the welfare of macaques in laboratories and the quality of science derived from them. This educational resource is intended to complement the published literature and features over 200 videos and images from research and breeding facilities around the world with different animal management procedures.
Content development for the site was led by Dr Mark Prescott (NC3Rs) with Dr Emily Bethell and Dr Caralyn Kemp (Liverpool John Moores University). The 2022 refresh was supported by Mr David Massey (Newcastle University and MRC Centre for Macaques).
Many researchers and facilities around the world have kindly supplied images and video for the site. We are extremely grateful to our contributors and to the peer reviewers who have reviewed the material on this site.
Dr Mark Prescott
Dr Mark Prescott is Director of Policy and Outreach at the NC3Rs, where he has worked since its inception in 2004. He provides strategic oversight of the Centre’s relationships with other research funders and the academic community, including its peer review and advice service, regional staff within UK universities, and office-led programmes on animal welfare and experimental design. Mark trained as a zoologist and primatologist at the Universities of Edinburgh and Stirling. He has 25 years’ research experience in primatology, animal behaviour and animal welfare science, authoring over 50 publications in these areas. He serves on several ethics committees and scientific advisory boards at project, institution, journal and governmental levels.
Dr Emily Bethell
Dr Emily Bethell is Reader in Animal Cognition and Welfare, as well as programme leader for MSc Primate Behaviour and Conservation at Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK. Her research focus is primate social cognition and behaviour: what monkeys and apes can tell us about human evolution, and the implications of similarities and differences in cognitive processes for understanding and improving the psychological well-being of nonhuman primates held in captivity. She is currently developing ‘attention bias’ as a novel measure of primate psychological wellbeing, using a range of methods including field observation and experiments, computer-based tasks in the laboratory and collection of genetic and non-invasive physiological measures.
Dr Caralyn Kemp
Dr Caralyn Kemp was a Post-Doctoral Researcher at Liverpool John Moores University and animal trainer at the MRC Centre for Macaques. She is now Lecturer at Unitec Institute of Technology, New Zealand. While she considers herself a general ethologist, her research has largely focused on primate behaviour, covering a range of topics including social behaviour management, sensory perception, facial expressions, and vocal production. She also has a background in captive animal welfare, having been involved in behavioural research and enrichment programs in both zoos and primate breeding facilities.
Mr David Massey
David Massey is a PhD student at the Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University, supervised by Professor Melissa Bateson and Dr Claire Witham. Based at the Medical Research Council’s Centre for Macaques (CFM), David is interested in laboratory animal welfare and refinements that can be made to improve welfare. His PhD project, funded by the NC3Rs, focuses on the welfare of captive rhesus macaques at the CFM and is titled “Refining the weaning age of rhesus macaques destined for use in neuroscience research”. At the CFM, David conducts behavioural observations, performs temperament tests, and collates data from historical records to assess the effects of weaning age (i.e., removal of an infant from the dam) on macaque behaviour and health.
Acknowledgements
Many researchers and facilities around the world have kindly supplied images and video for the site. We are extremely grateful to our contributors (acknowledged and anonymous) and to the peer reviewers listed below:
| Mr William Archibald, Charles River Laboratories | Ms Jennifer McMillan, Emory University |
| Dr Caroline Bergmann, University of Oxford | Dr Marek Niekrasz, University of Chicago |
| Dr Mollie Bloomsmith, Emory University | Dr Chris Petkov, Newcastle University |
| Dr Anna Bottomley, Huntingdon Life Sciences | Mr Joshua Reukauf, Newcastle University |
| Professor Hannah Buchanan-Smith, University of Stirling | Ms Angelina Ruiz-Lambides, University of Puerto Rico |
| Dr Moshe Bushmitz, BFC Israel | Professor Matthew Rushworth, University of Oxford |
| Ms Giulia Ciminelli, Newcastle University | Dr Jerome Sallet, University of Oxford |
| Dr David Farningham, MRC Centre for Macaques | Dr Lou Tasker, University of Stirling |
| Dr Alexander Georgiev, University of Chicago | Mr Kevin Watts, Huntingdon Life Sciences |
| Dr Michael Gumert. Nanyang Technological University | Mrs Jayne Watson, University of Oxford |
| Ms Catherine Hills, University College London | Dr Claire Witham, MRC Centre for Macaques |
| Mr Mike Dennis, Public Health England | Dr Kris Coleman, Oregon NPRC |
| Ms Maria Martinez, University of Oxford | Professor Sarah Wolfensohn, University of Surrey |
For background on why and how the site was developed, read the NC3Rs blog.