|
| Nonhuman primates are the research subjects of choice around the world. This page will give you an idea of the numbers of individuals involved, the countries in which they are kept, and the legislation involved. Please help us keep our information current and accurate - contact LPAG to inform us of updates or any other international organizations to add to our list of links. |
Overview
The number of primates used in research worldwide is generally unknown due to the fact that only some countries compile and report numbers of animals and species used in research annually. In addition, there is no one source where all of the available information has been compiled. However, it is known that the United States uses many more primates in research than any other country in the world. For example, the European Union (consisting of fifteen member states) reported the use of approximately 6,000 primates in research for 1996, although the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection reports that number at 10,000 per year.1 The United States reported approximately 57,000 primates in research for the year 2000.2 This number includes only those primates used in research protocols and does not include those housed in breeding facilities or held in laboratories while not being used in protocols.
The United States has also made a recent push towards increasing the use of nonhuman primates in research. For example, Primate Products, Inc. established a primate breeding facility in Hendry County Florida.3 The original proposal ultimately called for a facility that will house 3,000 monkeys to be bred and sold for research. It appears that this facility will have no problem finding business. An article in Science magazine in 2000,4 and a more recent piece in the New York Times5 indicate that there is a lack of specific pathogen free (SPF) monkeys for research and that they are in high demand. We have a long way to go on this issue.
An expansion of the California Regional Primate Research Center (CRPRC), affiliated with the University of California-Davis and one of the eight federally-funded primate research centers, is another indication of an increase in the use of monkeys in the United States. CRPRC is expanding its facility to a total of 5,000 monkeys, up from the 3,800 currently housed and used for research there.6
In addition to captive breeding colonies, wild monkeys continue to be captured and exported to the United States and other countries for biomedical research. For a thorough article on the international trade in non-human primates, read "Trafficking in Misery - The Primate Trade" by Linda Howard and Dena Jones.7
|
Great Ape Issues
The use of great apes, particularly chimpanzees, in research has been declining in recent years. Only the United States, Japan, Liberia, and Gabon use chimpanzees in biomedical research. Some countries are banning the use of great apes in biomedical research. For example, in November 1997 the government of Great Britain issued a statement that it would "not issue any licences to use Great Apes in scientific procedures." This document further indicates that great apes have not been used in research in the United Kingdom since the passage of the 1986 Animal Procedures Act.8 In addition, legislation against the use of great apes in research passed in New Zealand in 2000. Even though New Zealand already did not use great apes in research, this sent a clear signal to the rest of the world.9
In December 2000, the United States passed the Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance, and Protection (CHIMP) Act. This legislation calls for a national system to be built in order to provide improved housing for those great apes who are deemed no longer "necessary" for research. Before passage of this legislation, it was amended to allow removal of apes from the housing system and back into research under certain circumstances.10 The CHIMP Act, once applauded by the chimpanzee protection community, became the cause of a storm of controversy once it was learned that the chimpanzees were not guaranteed permanent sanctuary. Some believe that the legislation is too much of a compromise and should not have been passed. Others view it as a step in the right direction.The first facility, Chimp Haven, is scheduled to open its doors in early 2005.11
Overall, the use of great apes in research is on the decline worldwide – but there is still a great deal of work to be done on this issue.
|
Other News from Around the World
Australia may also be building a new breeding and research colony of marmosets and macaques and will receive funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The National Primate Breeding and Research Centre will be run by Monash University.12
India recently opened the doors of its first primate biomedical research center. Research will focus on HIV/AIDS.13
A proposal to build a primate research facility in Cambridge, United Kingdom was recently rejected.14 The monkeys were to be used in research of brain diseases and behavior. The South Cambridgeshire district council rejected the proposal, based on "public safety grounds" due to the fear of animal rights protests.
The Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC) in The Netherlands (mentioned above), which was the largest primate research facility in Europe will retire its 59 chimpanzees to sanctuary. The HIV infected individuals will remain in The Netherlands at Stichting AAP, which the uninfected chimps will begin their new life in AAP's facility in Spain, named Primadomus. The Dutch government voted to ban the use of chimpanzees in biomedical research in 2002.15, however the use of other nonhuman primates in research will continue.16
The National Academy of Sciences held a conference entitled "International Perspectives: The Future of Nonhuman Primate Resources" on April 17-19, 2002. This conference aims to determine the current need for primates in research and how those needswill be met. Click here for more information.
LABS of Virginia, Inc., a primate breeding colony located in South Carolina, illegally transported pregnant and infant crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis) from Indonesia to the United States in 1997. It has been determined that those shipments also consisted of crab-eating macaques who were captured in the wild, but the shipping documents were falsified and reported that they were captive born. Indonesia banned the export of wild-caught monkeys in 1994. Three former owners were charged with a total of eight felony and four misdemeanor charges and pleaded guilty in the case. In a plea agreement, the company was fined $500,000 and one of the owners (David Taub) agreed to a two-year ban from getting a fish and wildlife license and associating with companies who work with wildlife.17
Undercover footage was recently taken in Jerusalem Hebrew University where monkeys are subjected to cruel and horrific experiments. The Israeli Society for Abolition of Vivisection and other groups are campaigning for the release of the monkeys into sanctuary and supporting legislation that would significantly reduce animal experimentation in Israel. For more information, visit Allied Effort to Save Other Primates (AESOP).
The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection has exposed the trafficking of wild-caught baboons in Tanzania, baboons who live in abysmal conditions while held captive in Tanzania, and then are shipped to other countries for use in laboratory experiments. Click here to help with BUAV's campaign to end the export of baboons from Tanzania. Baboons are also exported from Kenya for biomedical research. Click here for further information on the Kenyan trade.
Germany may be on the brink of passing a constitutional amendment that will require that non-human animals be protected from avoidable pain. The proposed amendment comes following an unpopular court ruling in Germany that permitted halal (kosher) slaughtering, in which animals are not stunned before they are killed. The amendment, if passed, will likely be applicable to non-human animals, including primates, used in research.18
|
References
1. European Commission, "Second Report on the Statistics on the Number of Animals Used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes in the Member States of the European Union: Commission Communication to the Council and the Parliament," (1999); BUAV, "Primate Research," {click on 'Primates'}.
2. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal Welfare Report: Report of the Secretary of Agriculture to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives (2000).
3. Panther Tracks Learning Center.
4. J. Cohen, "Vaccine Studies Stymied by Shortage of Animals," Science, 287 (2000): 959-960.
5. Carolyn Marshall, "Monkeys for Research: Much Coveted, and Hard to Come By," the New York Times, April 6, 2004.
6. "Draft Study on Primate Center Available," Daily Democrat, (Sept. 2, 2001).
7. L. Howard and D. Jones, "Trafficking in Misery - The Primate Trade," [originally published in Animal Issues, 31, no. 3 (2000)].
8. U.K. Home Office, Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals: Great Britain 1997. (Norwich: The Stationary Officee Ltd National Publishing, 1998)
9. J. D'Agnese, "An Embarrassment of Chimpanzees," Discover, 23, no. 5 (2002): 43-49.
10. See the Great Ape Project, "The CHIMP Act Files."
11. Chimp Haven, "Chimpanzee Housing Dedicated," Press Release November 12, 2004.
12. "Monkey Factory for Medical Research," Herald Sun.
13. "Primate Research Centre for HIV/AIDS Opened at Vasai: Ramadoss," NewKerala, January 9, 2005.
14. J. Meek, "Protest Fears Halt Animal Research Plan," Guardian, Feb. 7, 2002.
15. Wim de Kok, Consultant, Stichting AAP, "Dutch Lab Chimps to be Retired," August 2002.
16. Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, "Use of Other Small Non-human Primates for Biomedical Research Unfortunately Still Necessary. Medical Testing on Chimpanzees Must Stop," press release, April 5, 2001.
17. "Former Beaufort Mayor Guilty of Illegally Importing Monkeys," The State, December 18, 2004.
18. "Germany Adopts a Pro-Animal Constitutional Amendment, Animal People, 11, no. 6 (2002).
|
|
