Mssingen / Tbingen (dpa / lsw) – Crows from the bird protection center of the nature conservation association Nabu could have been used for animal experiments at the University of Tbingen, in which electrodes were operated on in the brain. Nabu Baden-Wrttemberg announced on Friday that it had given eight dead and seven live black crows to animal physiologists between 2011 and 2015. This was done with the best of intentions, said a spokeswoman. Der Spiegel had previously reported that the scientists had implanted up to 16 electrodes in birds for experiments and measured reactions to colored symbols and other optical stimuli. At first it remained unclear whether crows of the Nabu were also used for this.
We are appalled by the events described in the report, the Nabu said. Had the Nabu been aware of such animal experiments, no black crows would have been handed in. The association strictly rejects this type of animal experimentation and is currently assuming that the black crows from Mssingen were not used for this. So far, however, there has been no answer to a question.
According to the information provided, the bird protection center supports research and teaching in accordance with the statutes. The birds had been given the assumption that they would be used exclusively for breeding and / or for non-invasive behavioral observations. The delivery of animals always took place within the framework of the legal requirements. After 2015, no more birds went to the Department of Animal Physiology because the District Veterinary Office had specified that living birds would only be given to this department with the approval of the authorities.
By measuring brain waves, the researchers in Tbingen have shown, among other things, what happens in the crows’ brains during learning. In one task, for example, you should learn to assign different colors to pictures of animals or flowers. First of all, the crows had to learn by trial and error or guessing which pictures went with which color. If they hit, they were rewarded. Individual nerve cells reacted differently to the various images: According to the information, one responded strongly to all images in the group in blue, another to images in the group in red – despite different motifs.
It is not the first time that animal experiments in Tbingen have made headlines: a few years ago, pictures of experiments with monkeys at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics sparked massive protests by animal rights activists.
dpa-infocom, dpa: 210423-99-330173 / 2
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