This report describes a case of unintended importation of tropical baby jumping spiders to a laboratory monkey colony. The spiders were detected in a cocoon attached to a banana for monkey consumption. In identifying the family of spiders as jumping spiders (Salticidae), it turned out that these spiders would not have been venomous to humans and they most likely would not have had the potential to establish a new spider colony in the facility.

This article describes the important role of online resources in enabling scientists and others to improve the care and use of non-human primates used in research, through information exchange, staff training and networking. Emphasis is given to key resources from the NC3Rs on macaque and marmoset behaviour, care and welfare; experimental design; chronic implants in neuroscience; and aspects of drug discovery and development. Use of these resources can benefit both animal welfare and science.

The benefits of training laboratory primates include improved welfare, facilitated husbandry, quality of data, and human/animal relationships. Refined ways of using negative reinforcement are discussed, as well as target training and management perspectives on primate training. Several approaches to managing fear are described: systematic desensitization/counter conditioning (SD/CC) versus combined reinforcement training (NPRT).