According to a 2022 publication 6 tammar wallabies, bred specifically for research were used in vision experiments. Help us urge the Australian Research Council to stop funding cruel and scientifically obsolete brain and vision experiments on wallabies. Tammar wallabies, bred specifically for research, have been subjected to invasive procedures like craniotomies and electrophysiology recordings at the National Vision Research Institute in Melbourne. Despite ethical approval from the University of Melbourne’s ethics committee, this research is seen as outdated and offers little benefit to human health or wildlife conservation. Sign the email action below and support the shift towards animal-free research methods.Â
The experiment involved holding the wallaby’s head in a stereotaxic frame secured by ear bars, performing a craniotomy (making a hole in the skull) and exposing the cortex with a stainless-steel chamber affixed to the skull. Electrophysiology recordings of the brain were taken whilst the animals were anaesthetised and “refractive errors were measured using retinoscopy and corrected with spherical lenses placed in front of the eyes to focus the stimuli on the retina”.
This type of research is known as ‘basic research’. It provides little or no benefit to human health and is certainly of no benefit to the wallabies.
This research was funded through the Australian government’s Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function by way of grant number CE140100007. It is not only cruel but a waste of resources and animal lives.
Research on Australia’s wildlife is often thought to be justifiable for conservation benefits but this experiment is in no way of benefit to wildlife or humans. It is a travesty of science.
TAKE ACTION: Sending the following email to the CEO of the Australian Research Council, Ms Judi Zielke
"*" indicates required fields