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Guidelines for use of wild mammal species are updated from the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) 2007 publication. These revised guidelines cover current professional techniques and regulations involving mammals used in research and teaching. They incorporate additional resources, summaries of procedures, and reporting requirements not contained in earlier publications. Included are details on marking, housing, trapping, and collecting mammals. It is recommended that institutional animal care and use committees (IACUCs), regulatory agencies, and investigators use these guidelines as a resource for protocols involving wild mammals. These guidelines were prepared and approved by the ASM, working with experienced professional veterinarians and IACUCs, whose collective expertise provides a broad and comprehensive understanding of the biology of nondomesticated mammals in their natural environments. The most current version of these guidelines and any subsequent modifications are available at the ASM Animal Care and Use Committee page of the ASM Web site (http://mammalsociety.org/committees/index.asp).
Key words: animal capture, animal care, animal housing, animal marking, animal use ethics, federal regulation, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, trapping
© 2011 American Society of Mammalogists
DOI: 10.1644/10-MAMM-F-355.1
INTRODUCTION
Advances in the study of mammals, from exploring physiological functions to understanding evolutionary relationships and developing management strategies, are predicated on responsible use of mammals in research. Founded in April 1919, the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) has long been concerned with the welfare of mammals, and in particular, natural communities. In 1928 one of the founders of the ASM, Joseph Grinnell, instructed administrators of Yosemite National Park to maintain the park as a natural mammalian community without unnecessary or destructive development. Grinnell (1928:76) described various management tactics for park managers to follow, but in particular he advised that to address an unwanted increase in the bear population, park officials needed to ''devise [some] means whereby troublesome individual bears could be discouraged from raiding food-stores, without doing them serious bodily harm. But I recommend that exceeding care be taken in such procedure, not to rouse, unnecessarily, adverse public opinion, and not to drive away the bears altogether, for they constitute a particularly valuable element in the native animal life of the valley.'' Thus, Grinnell made informed management recommendations and also advocated animal care and use with sensitivity toward public opinion. The same is true today...