Research chimps will soon be listed as ‘endangered’ Ruling could disrupt biomedical research By David Grimm
T
he presence of Jane Goodall was a giveaway. In a press conference last week featuring the famed primatologist, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced that it will classify all captive chimpanzees as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The move gives captive chimps the same status as their wild counterparts and could deal a significant blow to biomedical research involving the animals. “This decision will have a chilling impact to the point where little if any chimpanzee research will be conducted in the U.S.,” says John VandeBerg, the former director of the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio, Texas, which provides nonhuman primate resources for biomedical research and currently houses 129 chimpanzees. USFWS has been considering the status change since a coalition of animal organizations—including the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Jane Goodall Institute—petitioned it in 2010. The group claimed that research chimps were treated inhumanely and that the animals were too cognitively advanced to be kept in captivity. It also argued that USFWS had erred when, in 1990, it first listed wild chimpanzees as endangered but made the unusual move to keep captive chimps—including those used in research, zoos, and entertainment—listed as threatened. (All chimps had been labeled 1296
as threatened in 1976 due to threats from poaching, disease, and capture for research.) No other species has this split status, but USFWS was pressured by the biomedical community, which feared that an endangered listing would compromise HIV research and other important studies. The agency also hoped that keeping chimps in captivity would protect wild populations, because the animals could be bred rather than taken from the wild. “That was a well-intentioned decision, but now we realize it was a mistake,” said USFWS Director Dan Ashe at the press conference. “What we actually did was encourage a culture that treats these animals as a commodity.” When USFWS reviewed its policy, it concluded that the ESA does not allow for a split designation. It also found that giving the estimated 1750 chimps in captivity (including more than 700 research chimps) a less protected status could create a way to “launder” wild chimps as captive ones, and that the split status had done little to reduce the threat to wild chimpanzees. Under the new designation, which goes into effect on 14 September, anyone doing scientific research on captive chimps in the United States must apply for a permit from USFWS. Permits will also be required for the sale and import of these animals. Organizations that want to continue working with chimpanzees will have to document that the work enhances the survival of the species and benefits chimps in the wild—
sciencemag.org SCIENCE
19 JUNE 2015 • VOL 348 ISSUE 6241
Published by AAAS
PHOTO: MELANIE STETSON FREEMAN/THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR/AP IMAGES
ANIMAL RESEARCH
for example, by boosting habitat restoration or contributing to improved management. “We have been working closely with the NIH [National Institutes of Health] and the biomedical research community to make sure they understand the implications of our final rule,” Ashe said. “If anyone is actively engaged in chimpanzee research, they should apply for a permit now.” Ashe said some biomedical research with chimps may be allowed to continue if it is critical for understanding human disease. “But the entity would have to make a [monetary] contribution or support conservation of wild chimpanzees.” The decision “shows an awakening, a new consciousness,” Goodall said at the press conference. HSUS also applauded the move. “We were sending the wrong message by using these animals so readily for research, entertainment, and as pets,” says Kathleen Conlee, the organization’s vice president of animal research issues. Even if the new status doesn’t completely end research on chimpanzees, she says the permitting process will make public all the work being done with them in pharmaceutical companies and other private research labs, which have not been subject to NIH scrutiny. “We hope this compels private labs to start thinking about sanctuaries for these animals.” The USFWS decision comes on the heels of a 2013 NIH announcement that it would phase out most government-funded chimpanzee research and retire the majority of its research chimps. In a statement, the agency said that it isn’t supporting any biomedical research projects using chimpanzees, and that it will work with USFWS to comply with any implications of its ruling. To Susan Larson, an anatomist at Stony Brook University in New York who has worked with lab chimps for decades, the USFWS announcement adds yet another hurdle to studying these animals. “We already have to apply for grants, get institutional approval, and be subject to regular inspections,” she says. “This is going to make it increasingly difficult to get these projects off the ground.” VandeBerg says no new chimpanzee studies have been initiated since USFWS began considering the new status in 2013. Stopping chimpanzee research, he says, will hurt chimps in the wild, as well as human beings. “Chimpanzees are needed to develop vaccines for Ebola and AIDS,” he says. “There will be a lot of people who die who would not have died.” VandeBerg also worries that animal rights groups will now move on to monkeys and other primates. “It’s a slippery slope.” ■
Downloaded from www.sciencemag.org on June 22, 2015
A retired lab chimpanzee at Chimp Haven, an independent sanctuary in Louisiana.
T
he presence of Jane Goodall was a giveaway. In a press conference last week featuring the famed primatologist, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced that it will classify all captive chimpanzees as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The move gives captive chimps the same status as their wild counterparts and could deal a significant blow to biomedical research involving the animals. “This decision will have a chilling impact to the point where little if any chimpanzee research will be conducted in the U.S.,” says John VandeBerg, the former director of the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio, Texas, which provides nonhuman primate resources for biomedical research and currently houses 129 chimpanzees. USFWS has been considering the status change since a coalition of animal organizations—including the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Jane Goodall Institute—petitioned it in 2010. The group claimed that research chimps were treated inhumanely and that the animals were too cognitively advanced to be kept in captivity. It also argued that USFWS had erred when, in 1990, it first listed wild chimpanzees as endangered but made the unusual move to keep captive chimps—including those used in research, zoos, and entertainment—listed as threatened. (All chimps had been labeled 1296
as threatened in 1976 due to threats from poaching, disease, and capture for research.) No other species has this split status, but USFWS was pressured by the biomedical community, which feared that an endangered listing would compromise HIV research and other important studies. The agency also hoped that keeping chimps in captivity would protect wild populations, because the animals could be bred rather than taken from the wild. “That was a well-intentioned decision, but now we realize it was a mistake,” said USFWS Director Dan Ashe at the press conference. “What we actually did was encourage a culture that treats these animals as a commodity.” When USFWS reviewed its policy, it concluded that the ESA does not allow for a split designation. It also found that giving the estimated 1750 chimps in captivity (including more than 700 research chimps) a less protected status could create a way to “launder” wild chimps as captive ones, and that the split status had done little to reduce the threat to wild chimpanzees. Under the new designation, which goes into effect on 14 September, anyone doing scientific research on captive chimps in the United States must apply for a permit from USFWS. Permits will also be required for the sale and import of these animals. Organizations that want to continue working with chimpanzees will have to document that the work enhances the survival of the species and benefits chimps in the wild—
sciencemag.org SCIENCE
19 JUNE 2015 • VOL 348 ISSUE 6241
Published by AAAS
PHOTO: MELANIE STETSON FREEMAN/THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR/AP IMAGES
ANIMAL RESEARCH
for example, by boosting habitat restoration or contributing to improved management. “We have been working closely with the NIH [National Institutes of Health] and the biomedical research community to make sure they understand the implications of our final rule,” Ashe said. “If anyone is actively engaged in chimpanzee research, they should apply for a permit now.” Ashe said some biomedical research with chimps may be allowed to continue if it is critical for understanding human disease. “But the entity would have to make a [monetary] contribution or support conservation of wild chimpanzees.” The decision “shows an awakening, a new consciousness,” Goodall said at the press conference. HSUS also applauded the move. “We were sending the wrong message by using these animals so readily for research, entertainment, and as pets,” says Kathleen Conlee, the organization’s vice president of animal research issues. Even if the new status doesn’t completely end research on chimpanzees, she says the permitting process will make public all the work being done with them in pharmaceutical companies and other private research labs, which have not been subject to NIH scrutiny. “We hope this compels private labs to start thinking about sanctuaries for these animals.” The USFWS decision comes on the heels of a 2013 NIH announcement that it would phase out most government-funded chimpanzee research and retire the majority of its research chimps. In a statement, the agency said that it isn’t supporting any biomedical research projects using chimpanzees, and that it will work with USFWS to comply with any implications of its ruling. To Susan Larson, an anatomist at Stony Brook University in New York who has worked with lab chimps for decades, the USFWS announcement adds yet another hurdle to studying these animals. “We already have to apply for grants, get institutional approval, and be subject to regular inspections,” she says. “This is going to make it increasingly difficult to get these projects off the ground.” VandeBerg says no new chimpanzee studies have been initiated since USFWS began considering the new status in 2013. Stopping chimpanzee research, he says, will hurt chimps in the wild, as well as human beings. “Chimpanzees are needed to develop vaccines for Ebola and AIDS,” he says. “There will be a lot of people who die who would not have died.” VandeBerg also worries that animal rights groups will now move on to monkeys and other primates. “It’s a slippery slope.” ■
Downloaded from www.sciencemag.org on June 22, 2015
A retired lab chimpanzee at Chimp Haven, an independent sanctuary in Louisiana.
