Germany: Animal experiments on robins

In Oldenburg, free-living robins have been captured and subjected to cruel experiments for at least 14 years. In a single experiment, 92 robins were made to suffer. In another research project, 40 robins were decapitated. The nationwide organisation Doctors Against Animal Experiments has condemned this as «pure curiosity research» in a statement, and is calling for an online petition to stop the experiments. Wild birds belong in nature, not in a research laboratory!

Cruel experiments on the navigational sense

In order to study the navigational sense of migratory birds, robins are caught in the wild on the campus of the University of Oldenburg and kept at the Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences. For the experiments, the animals are placed individually and repeatedly into a small box lined with special paper. As the bird makes futile attempts to fly in its innate migratory direction, it leaves scratch marks that are then evaluated by the experimenters. The birds are subsequently exposed to strong magnetic fields in order to disrupt their navigational sense and disorient them. In another research project, 40 robins are decapitated so that their retinas can be examined.

«Simply catching and keeping these shy animals in cages already causes them considerable stress and fear,» explains Dr. med. vet. Corina Gericke, Vice President of the association Doctors Against Animal Experiments. «It is certainly interesting to find out how migratory birds navigate, and nobody objects to curiosity as a driving force behind basic research, as long as no animals are harmed in the process,» says veterinarian Gericke. Researching the migratory behaviour of birds can also be done ethically through non-invasive methods, such as field observations.

Volkswagen Foundation as Sponsor

The association has been campaigning against the Oldenburg songbird experiments since 2007. Then as now, the Volkswagen Foundation is a key sponsor. Just a few weeks ago, massive protests took place in Berlin over planned animal experiments on nightingales, in which electrodes are to be implanted in their brains, ostensibly to help autistic children. «Such a justification is of course merely a pretext to legitimise curiosity-driven research,» says Gericke. In Oldenburg, there is not even a purported medical reason. «Ultimately, what the experimenters are after is publishing specialist articles, which is the ultimate measure of success in the academic world.»

The experiments mentioned can be looked up in the doctors’ association’s database, www.datenbank-tierversuche.de, under the respective document ID. More on animal rights.