Over 100 institutes across NZ use animals for research, testing or teaching — the exact number changes yearly.
| Year | The number of places that used animals for science in NZ |
| 2015 | 128 |
| 2016 | 141 |
| 2017 | 146 |
| 2018 | 146 |
| 2019 | 131 |
| 2020 | 141 |
| 2021 | 138 |
The figures above include institutes that:
- Had a code of ethical conduct approved by the Director-General of MPI
- Engaged in research, testing and teaching involving animals and had an arrangement to use another institution’s code of ethical conduct (and animal ethics committee) rather than forming their own.
Important note: The schools in NZ that use animals for science aren't counted individually in the figures above. Instead, all schools are grouped together as one.
Access a list of places that used animals for science during the following years below:
The specifics
Any person or organisation using animals for research, testing and teaching purposes must follow an approved code of ethical conduct, which sets out the policies and procedures that must be followed by the organisation and its animal ethics committee.
All organisations with an approved code of ethical conduct or a an arrangement to use another organisation's code have to submit annual statistics on the number of animals used in research, testing or teaching to the Ministry for Primary Industries. This is how we know where animals are used for research, testing and teaching purposes.
Further reading:
- Find out more about code of ethical conducts on the Ministry for Primary Industries website.
- Find out more about animals used in science in NZ here.
