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Mice were still the most commonly used animals in animal experiments in 2024 (Archive image)
Keystone
Last year, 522,636 animals were used in animal experiments in Switzerland. This was around 12 percent less than in the previous year and fewer than at any time since 1983. However, there was an increase in the number of heavily contaminated experiments.
The Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office announced on Wednesday that only experiments with low to medium levels of stress had decreased. The number of animals used in severely stressful experiments of severity level 3 increased by 990 to 27,380 - the highest number since 25 years ago.
The majority of severity level 3 animal experiments are carried out for research into cancer as well as neurological and mental illnesses. On the other hand, severity level 0 includes non-stressful procedures such as behavioral studies. Here, the number of animals used has fallen by around 48,000.
According to the latest figures, around 72 percent of laboratory animals were used for human disease research. 62 percent of laboratory animals were used for basic research.
Mice were used in two thirds of the experiments. In the experiments with severity level 3, they accounted for around 91 percent. Compared to the previous year, however, 3 percent fewer mice were used. The decrease was greater for rats, fish and especially pigs (minus 86 percent).
On the other hand, the number of birds used rose by 1 percent to 66,355. The use of primates fell sharply by almost 27 percent to 195 laboratory animals. The majority of these animals were used in observational and behavioral studies of severity level 0, while no primates were used in experiments of severity level 3.
17.09.2025, 11:08
