Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Instituto Smithsonian de Investigaciones Tropicales
PROTOCOL FOR THE HUMANE USE OF LIVE VERTEBRATES
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Applicant: Please complete this form for any project that involves the use of vertebrate animals at
STRI. An additional form is necessary for tagging or collaring.
Please note: This protocol may be sent to experts outside STRI for external review. Please submit
to STRIIACUC@si.edu.
Project title:
Name of principle investigator(s):
Home institution(s):
Source of financial support:
Date submitted:
Start and end date of project:
1. Abstract of project:
2. Where will the study be conducted? Please be specific.
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3. For yourself and for all collaborators, please list name, institution, qualifications, and
vaccines (please add rows, modify chart, or add notes below as needed):
NAME
INSTITUTION
QUALIFICATIONS
VACCINATIONS
Rabies?
Tetanus?
*** Note on vaccines: Full post-exposure treatment for rabies is sometimes unavailable in
Panama. STRI strongly recommends that researchers obtain the pre-exposure rabies
vaccine (a series of three injections, over 3 weeks) prior to arrival in Panama. Animals
testing positive for rabies have been found at STRI field sites. ***
4. Study animals (please add rows, modify chart, or add notes below as needed):
SCIENTIFIC
NAME
COMMON
NAME
CONSERVATION
STATUS (CITES)
NATURE OF
USE
NUMBER OF
INDIVIDUALS
5. Justify your choice of species.
6. Justify your sample size. Please indicate the statistical methods you will use for analysis.
7. If animals will be captured, how will the capture take place?
8. What procedures will the animals undergo? How they will be handled? Please outline any
experiments that will be conducted.
9. Describe any restraint devices. How long will animals be restrained?
10. Will samples be taken? If so, what samples will be taken and how?
11. Will the animals be marked? How long do marks last and what is their effect on the
animals? (Please note: Researchers fitting animals with large attachments such as radio or
GPS tags, harnesses, collars, etc. must submit an additional tagging protocol. Marking
animals with PIT tags, leg bands, or ear tags does not require the submission of this
supplementary form.)
12. Will drugs be administered? If so, which and in what dosage? How will they be
administered?
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13. If animals will be held in captivity, where will they be housed?
14. What precautions will be taken to avoid stress and injury in captivity?
15. Describe the feeding and care routine:
16. Describe any procedures that will expose animals to nutritional distress:
17. Describe any procedures imposed on the animals in this study not already mentioned
above:
18. Overall, what degree of pain and distress will be imposed on the animals in your study?
Please refer to the categories below.
Type A Procedures
No animal distress or pain during research protocol and no anesthesia, analgesia or distress relief needed
(e.g., observational studies, handling captive animals).
Type B Procedures
Minor animal distress or pain during research protocol not relieved by anesthesia, analgesics, or other
pharmacological agents (e.g., trapping or handling wild animals, toe or ear clipping, blood drawing).
Type C Procedures
Moderate distress or pain during research protocol even if anesthesia, analgesics, or other pharmacological
agents are used to relieve distress for some of the protocol (e.g., surgery employing pain-relieving/reducing
pharmacological agents).
Type D Procedures
Severe distress or pain during research protocol even if anesthesia, analgesics, or other pharmacological
agents are used to relieve distress for some of the protocol (e.g., research conducted on pain/stress in which
no pain-relieving/reducing pharmacological agents are employed.)
19. What will be done for an animal that starts to develop signs of pain or distress?
20. What will happen to the animals when the study is completed? (Release/euthanasia?)
How will this take place?
21. In general, what potential hazards does this project pose to humans?
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22. How will these hazards be minimized and avoided?
23. What emergencies could arise and how will the researchers handle them?
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