“…The efficacy of hot-iron branding in biological and agricultural research has been investigated extensively, with most studies concluding that the technique does not appear to compromise longterm health, survival probability or behaviour (Mills, Wolfe, Le Riche, & Meyer, 1978;AuriolesGamboa & Sinsel, 1988;Schwartzkopfgenswein, Stookey, Janzen, & McKinnon, 1997;Troy, Middleton, & Phelan, 1997;Pomeroy, Fedak, Rothery, & Anderson, 1999;Castley, Knight, Mills, & Thouless, 2002). It was not the intention of this paper to judge the efficacy of the hot-iron branding practice as a research technique, per se.…”