Dr. Thomas Lauke’s NSF funded grant involves work with guinea fowl, a species native to Africa and considered poultry by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)1. All animal activities conducted under this grant are subject to the provisions of the PHS Policy2, and the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (The Guide)3. Since the birds were bred in captivity and used for research, the USDA Bird Rule4 does not apply.
Dr. Lauke has requested an increase in animal numbers from the Great Eastern University (GEU)’s IACUC due to a failure to recapture all the animals and to collect data. There are critical issues that GEU’s IACUC needs to consider during the review. First, were the birds allowed to acclimatize to the local environment before being released? Second, how are the guinea fowl contained in the study area? Are they protected from depredation, diseases, and adverse weather conditions? Is shelter provided? Are they on GEU property, public (federal, state, local), or private property? How easily can the researchers access the area to observe the birds? Third, are the birds checked according to the Guide; if not, what is the frequency and why? How is routine monitoring of the birds accomplished? Any technological issue affecting tracking of the birds needs to be addressed. Fourth, keets tend to have low survival rates in the wild. Was this a factor in the failure to capture that the Principal Investigator did not envisage? Is it possible that some keets did not survive, and therefore could not be caught? Regardless, the cause of any losses needs to be resolved. Fifth, guinea fowl while considered poultry1, are a non-native species. Were other federal, state, and local government agencies contacted to confirm that guinea fowl can be released into a potentially non-confined area? Are all required permits in place? Sixth, why was the investigator unable to recapture the guinea fowl? Did the team have the necessary skills to accomplish the task? How can the capture of these birds be improved without compromising their welfare? Seventh, the IACUC needs to revisit the chip implantation procedure to make sure there is no adverse impact on the keets and that they recover from it properly. Eighth, the IACUC must address the final disposition of the birds. What will happen to the birds when Lauke has completed the study? Final disposition was not mentioned in the scenario.
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