Annual Survey on Supply of Laboratory Animals in Japan(Number of Animals Supplied in Fiscal Year 2022, from April 2022 to March 2023)
Japanese Society for Laboratory Animal Resources(September 2023)
Introduction
This survey has been conducted every three fiscal years since FY1985 to determine changes over time inthe supply of laboratory animals in Japan, and the current survey, conducted in FY2022 (April 2022 - March2023), is the 13th in the series.
The survey method was the same as in the previous one: a questionnaire survey was administered to a
total of 29 corporations, including breeders and distributors of laboratory animals, animal experiment
facilities of universities, and national research institutes that supply laboratory animals, to determine thenumber of animals produced, purchased, and imported for sale to users of laboratory animals.

The

survey form was mailed to the corporations, that were asked to respond even if they had no record ofsupply.
Survey Targets
Of the 29 corporations surveyed, 26 were commercial suppliers of laboratory animals, 2 were university
animal experiment facilities, and one national research institute.

Twenty-four of the 26 commercialsuppliers are members of JSLAR (Japanese Society for Laboratory Animal Resources) and/or JCAL
(Japan Cooperative Association for Laboratory Animals).

Fourteen of them are members of bothassociations, and the remaining two suppliers are not members of either association. Twenty-six
corporations had supply records (Table 1).

Table 1. Questionnaire Response
Survey targets

Sent mail(A) Response (B) Animal supply* Response rate (B/A)

Member of JSLAR and/or JCAL**

2424

23100%

University/National Institute332100%

Others***221100%Total292926ー*: Corporations with supply records of laboratory animals.
**: Japanese Society for Laboratory Animal Resources (JSLAR), Japan Cooperative
Association for Laboratory Animals (JCAL).
***: Corporations not belong to any associations.

Summary of Survey Results
During the 37 years between the first survey in FY1985 and the current survey in FY2022, the number ofsurveyed corporations has decreased by about one-third, from 81 to 29, and the number of corporations
with supply records also showed the same trend, from 60 to 26 (Table 2).

Table 2. Changes in the Number of Survey Targets
Fiscal Year

1985 1988 1991 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022

Survey requests

81876665575266524444453829Response

64685257544964524443423729

Animal Supply*

60564549444340444439363326*: Number of corporations with supply records of labortory animals

All species except hamsters and goats showed a decrease in supply from the previous survey. The
number of mice decreased by about one-third from 9.39 million in FY1988, when it was the maximum, to2.59 million. Rats decreased from the maximum of 3.8 million in FY1991 to 482.9 thousand (13%), guinea
pigs decreased from the maximum of 534.8 thousand in FY1998 to 45.6 thousand (9%), dogs decreased
from the maximum of 38.9 thousand in FY1991 to 3.2 thousand (8%), and cats decreased from themaximum of 11.4 thousand in FY1985 to 192 (2%). This downward trend has continued from the time of
the maximum to the present survey (Table 3).
On the other hand, the supply of monkeys had been on a downward trend since FY1985, but after
bottoming out in FY1998, it began to increase, peaking in FY2007 and then declining again. The numberof imported monkeys, including those for exhibition, was 5,386 (January - December 2022), according to
the Annual Report of Animal Quarantine Service*, a discrepancy of 3,543 from the current survey. This
discrepancy was similar in the previous year, 2019, and may be attributed to the large number of direct
imports by users and purchases from sources other than those covered by this survey.
The supply of pigs increased from FY1985, reaching its first peak in FY1991, but then began to decline,
bottomed out in FY2007, and began to increase again, reaching a second peak of over 5 thousand inFY2019, but this time the number decreased slightly to 4,257.
In terms of genetic category, closed colonies, inbred and mutant strains accounted for 96% of the mouse
population, while closed colonies accounted for 92% of the rat population, a trend similar to the previous
year in FY2019.
In terms of microbiological category, SPF was almost 100% in mice, rats, guinea pigs, and hamster
species.
*Since July 1, 2005, the importation of monkeys has been prohibited except for testing, research, anddisplay purposes. The number of imported monkeys, exactly released from quarantine facilities, ispublished annually in the report by the Animal Quarantine Service, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry andFisheries.

Number of monkeys imported (The Annual Report of the AQS, January – December)
2007: 7,464 heads/ 2010: 5,820/ 2013: 5,215/ 2016: 5,834/ 2019: 4,885/ 2022: 5,386

Table 3. Number of Laboratory Animals Supplyed in FY 2022 (April 2022 - March 2023)
Categories of microbiological control

Categories ofSpecies

genetic control Conventional

CleanSPF

Ratio to 2019 Total in 2019Total (A)

(A/B)

(B)

Closed colony

012794,901

794,913

0.81

987,463

Inbred00

1,449,007

1,449,007

0.93

1,559,350

Maximum Number
through Surveys (FY)*

Hybrid0067,472

67,4720.71

95,074

Mutant00230,409

230,4090.75

308,284

Congenic

002,403

2,403

1.13

2,119

Transgenic

0041,795

41,795

1.21

2,110

Total

012

2,585,987

2,585,999

0.87

34,485

Closed colony

00442,963

442,9630.77

578,592

Inbred0030,654

30,6540.74

41,429Hybrid00183

183ー0Mutant

00

9,012

9,012

0.37

24,607

Transgenic

0074

74

ー0Total00

482,886

482,8860.75

644,628

3,801,348 (1991)

Guinea pig

0045,605

45,6050.85

53,666534,833 (1998)

Hamster spp.

00

20,022

20,022

3.40

5,887

82,510 (1998)

Mongolian gerbil

00

322

322

0.30

1,057

40,263（1998）

Rabbit849

9.46

19,10529,0000.87

33,381

333,824 (1985)

Dog

3,189

00

3,189

0.93

3,435

38,915 (!991)

Cat192

00192

0.59

323

11,415 (1985)

Monkey spp.

1,843

001,843

0.79

2,320

3,462 (2007)

Pig

1,019

58

3,180

4,257

0.84

5,085

5,085 (2019)

Goat

1100

112.75484 (1998)

Sheep0000-066 (1998)

Avian spp.

169

0877

1,046

0.60

1,739

44,830 (1988)

Fertilized

19,8630

2,630

22,4930.57

39,304

1,053,479 (1991)

128

14

7149

0.85

175

4,469 (1998)

1,493

0

0

1,493

0.57

2,619

26,557 (2001)

Mouse

Rat

9,389,912 (1988)

Chicken Egg
Other species Mammals**
Non-mammals*: The column exhibits the maximum numbers of each species through the early surveys.
**: Suncus murinus and ferret.