DEPARTMENTS
1 First Word Smart, sensitive, and suffering.
2 Briefly Speaking
New Protections Sought for Horseshoe Crabs; ARDF Grant Recipients Advance Better Science; Cambodian Official Eludes Monkey-Smuggling Charges; NIH Director Endorses Greater Use of Alternatives; All Waystation Chimps Are Home at Last!
18 Tributes
Special friends honored and remembered.
20 Members’ Corner
Protecting primates from the pet trade.
Decades of nonhuman primate use in laboratories have been marked by controversy and efforts to reduce animal suffering.
By
Crystal Schaeffer
6 The Tragic Monkey Trade
The importation of thousands of monkeys into the U.S. for research is fraught with harmful practices.
By Crystal Miller-Spiegel
1 0 Meet the Monkeys
Species used in research have natural lives of their own.
12 NIH Fails Primates in Research
Insufficient regulation and oversight continue to harm primates in government-funded laboratories.
By Angela Hvitved
14 The Salvation of Sanctuaries
Providing lifelong care for monkeys retired from research is both demanding and rewarding.
By Erika Fleury
16 Interview: Brooke Aldrich
A macaque expert from the Asia for Animals Coalition talks about 'monkey laundering' and other worldwide perils. FEATURES
Founded in 1883, the American Anti-Vivisection Society’s (AAVS) mission is to unequivocally oppose and work to end experimentation on animals and to oppose all other forms of cruelty to animals. AAVS is a nonprofit education organization using legal, effective advocacy to achieve meaningful, lasting change.
VOLUME CXXXI [ISSN 0274-7774]
Executive Editor
Sue A. Leary
Managing Editor and Copy Editor
Jill Howard Church
Staff Contributors
Emily Charniga
Jill Howard Church
Chris Derer
Sue A. Leary
Crystal Miller-Spiegel
Crystal Schaeffer
Art Direction Brubaker Design
AV Magazine (USPS 002-660) is published by the American Anti-Vivisection Society for the benefit of its members, and has been in continuous publication since 1892. Annual membership dues: $25.00.
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SPECIAL REPORT p 22
e-mail: editor@theavmagazine.org
www.aavs.org
AAVS welcomes requests to reproduce articles that appear in AV Magazine. In all cases, we will require that credit be given to the author and to AAVS.
The individual views and claims expressed in AV Magazine are not necessarily those of the organization.
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They get us, and we get them: the facial expressions, the eyes, the gestures, and the imperative to understand, decide, and act. Look into the eyes of a chimpanzee or a rhesus macaque or a gibbon or a spider monkey and there’s no doubt that “someone is home.”
And “home” is exactly what humans have stolen, ruthlessly, from our primate cousins.
Humans have acted horribly toward our primate relatives, at times ignoring and at times exploiting our connection—in labs, it is both at the same time. Humans have such a capacity and propensity to rationalize; what you want becomes what you need, and arrogance leads to insistence. But the fact is that primates are cornered, caged, fearful, frustrated, lonely, and mentally broken when humans set their sights on them. Sometimes, monkeys who are resilient and mentally agile can make the most of the situation and bargain effectively for things that they want: a grape, or access to stimulation or comfort. Good for them, but they shouldn’t even be in that position.
Our fight for them may seem like a losing battle. Human appetites and greed sure are powerful, but so is human compassion. When you have had the privilege, as I have, of meeting the wonderful people in primate sanctuaries who have committed to providing day-to-day care to animals and giving them every possible comfort and joy, you know that there is hope.
And when I hear from AAVS members who ask, “What can I do?”, I am confident that, together, we will find a path to progress. Here are two suggestions: 1. Informed advocacy—engage with decision makers (federal agencies, lawmakers) when you can; and 2. Contribute—donate, if you are able, to providing for the direct care of animals who are in need by supporting sanctuaries.
AAVS can help. We strive to bring you the facts, such as this issue of AV Magazine, and key opportunities, so you are empowered to act with good information in a timely way. And we select sanctuaries for our Sanctuary Fund that are “true” sanctuaries, caring for animals formerly used in labs.
We will persevere for the primates and welcome your support.
Sue A. Leary, President, American Anti-Vivisection Society
A PETITION FILED IN FEBRUARY by 26 environmental and animal advocacy groups is asking that American horseshoe crabs be listed as endangered or threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and vital habitat be protected. As previously reported in AV Magazine, crab populations have become critically low due to their use by the pharmaceutical industry, which hauls truckloads of live crabs from their spawning areas to laboratories where their unique blue blood is collected for testing vaccines and medical devices. Synthetic versions of the blood’s enzymes have already been developed and are used in other countries, as well as by some U.S. companies.
The crabs may also benefit if the U.S. Pharmacopeia formally adopts policy changes proposed last year that permit wider use of synthetics. In the meantime, the petition seeks to restrict further ‘harvesting’ of the crabs, whose removal also threatens several species of shorebirds who rely on crab eggs for food while migrating.
A RECORD NUMBER of applications have been received for the 2024 Annual Open Grant Program by the Alternatives Research & Development Foundation (an AAVS affiliate), but the 2023 awardees are already busy with diverse projects aimed at replacing animal use in research and testing.
Projects currently underway include modeling diabetes in an organoid-on-chip platform at the University of Washington, as well as the ADA Science & Research Institute’s work on precision-cut gingival slices as an animal-free model of oral inflammation. Highly matured human cardiac models to measure cardiotoxicity
are part of a joint project by the University of Connecticut Health Center and the University of California, San Francisco.
Funded studies at Johns Hopkins University will examine advanced neurotoxicity testing with an in vitro model of sex differences, as well as development of a cigarette smoke exposure model using human lung material to study COPD and potential drug therapeutics.
Two overseas grants in Germany and Belgium, respectively, are taking first steps toward a fracture hematoma-on-a-chip
model as well as exploring an in vitro model for studying the cholestatic potential of microplastics and even smaller nanoplastics.
ARDF President Sue Leary and Program Director Angela Hvitved have also been attending national and international conferences to promote the funding, development, and implementation of nonanimal testing methods.
More details about all ARDF programs are at www.ardf-online.org.
Atrial based on a five-year U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) investigation into international monkey smuggling resulted in a disappointing acquittal of a key Cambodian official in March. As that country’s deputy director of Wildlife and Biodiversity, Masphal Kry was among eight people named in a 2022 indictment related to the importation of long-tailed macaques during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal prosecutors alleged that Cambodian officials connected to a biomedical research corporation were falsifying documents that allowed thousands of wild-caught monkeys to be sold as captivebred to U.S. facilities, violating American and international law. But despite extensive evidence, a U.S. District Court jury in Florida acquitted Kry, who then returned to Cambodia after
A statement released by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Monica Bertagnolli in February claims the agency is increasing its commitment to using more non-animal alternatives for studying biology and disease. Bertagnolli said “dramatic leaps in technologies… hold tremendous promise when applied to the appropriate scientific inquiry.”
The endorsement was made following recommendations from a 2023 working group on alternatives that included academics and industry representatives. Bertagnolli also credited the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods for promoting new approach methodologies that can help refine, reduce, and replace animal use.
A critical part of this effort is the new Complement Animal Research and Experimentation program to help accelerate the development, standardization, validation, and use of alternatives that more accurately model human biology and disease.
As the largest funder of biomedical research in the world, the NIH has significant influence on the industry. A higher level of commitment to non-animal methods has the potential to save millions of lives and advance humane science on a whole new level.
being held under house arrest in the U.S. since November 2022. Kry’s attorneys argued that he should not have been prosecuted for following orders from the Cambodian government to remove macaques from public places where they were deemed problematic, which is legal in Cambodia. But since long-tailed macaques are internationally classified as endangered, their trade is restricted. Radio Free Asia quoted former USFWS investigator Ed Newcomer as saying Kry’s defense claim "epitomizes the Cambodian government's way of thinking — it’s not illegal if the government says it’s not." Newcomer said that because Cambodia is part of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), “they have to follow CITES rules if they want to export their wildlife.”
formerly kept at the now-defunct Wildlife Waystation in California are now safely and happily in their new home at Chimp Haven in Louisiana. The Treetop Ten, as they were called, were among 40 chimps in dire need of new homes after the Wildlife Waystation was forced to shut down in 2019 after a nearby fire and flooding left the facility financially unable to meet care standards. Nearly 500 other animals were also rehomed to other sanctuaries.
The North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance led an effort to raise more than $4 million through a campaign called Chimpanzees In Need to relocate the chimps—some of whom have special needs— to several existing primate sanctuaries, including Chimp Haven, the Center for Great Apes, Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, Primarily Primates, and Save The Chimps. The final group of 10 was relocated in December 2022 and the fundraising goal was met later in 2023.
Some of the Waystation chimps spent nearly three years waiting until sanctuaries were able to make room, aided in part by AAVS’s Build It! campaigns to expand housing and habitat. Lifetime care for all of the rescued primates costs approximately $25,000 per chimp per year, making ongoing fundraising a challenge. AAVS has supported these efforts with funds from our annual Sanctuary Grants.
CONTROVERSY HAS SURROUNDED the use of nonhuman primates (NHPs) in research for decades, and rightly so. While NHPs have been used in laboratories for over a century, the practice became more established in the early 1950s to study the dreaded infectious disease of polio, following several outbreaks. Massive resources were poured into obtaining hundreds of thousands of rhesus macaques, many pulled from the wild in India, who were purposely infected with the polio virus and suffered a miserable death so their cells and tissues could be collected to infect more animals.
Despite the reliance on macaques to study polio and develop a vaccine, it was an in vitro culture using non-neural human tissue that provided the breakthrough, and won the Nobel Prize, to create a safe reservoir of the virus free of potential animal contaminants in vaccine development. Relying on primates delayed scientists from discovering that the poliovirus is ingested orally in humans and then travels through the bloodstream, a key in designing the vaccine to destroy the virus before it enters the central nervous system. It was later discovered that rhesus macaques do not acquire the poliovirus orally, making it a poor model for the disease.
BY CRYSTAL SCHAEFFER
tion experiments—like those conducted by Harry Harlow, who separated baby monkeys from their mothers— studying infant development in response to nightmarish trauma.
Moving into the 1970s, primate use increased, due to their low cost and plentiful supply. Brain- and neurological-related research using monkeys started growing, as did their use in toxicity testing, including for chemicals. However, after initiating partial export restrictions in response to depleting wild populations, India stopped exporting rhesus macaques for research in 1978, after learning that the U.S. used some of the animals in military experiments, in violation of an agreement between the two countries. In response, the NPRCs increased their breeding.
With the advent of the space race with the Soviet Union in the late 1950s, primates (including chimpanzees and macaques) were used to study the physiological effects of spaceflight, with many dying during or soon after flight experiments. But the use of primates really started to ramp up in the 1960s when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) established its National Primate Research Centers (NPRC) Program, which now consists of seven labs across the country that work to develop primate models of human disease, conduct research, and breed primates, all at taxpayer expense.
Following the polio vaccine, primates were also used to develop and test other vaccines, including for measles, mumps, and rubella. Psychological research also expanded with studies into depression and anxiety, as well as cruel maternal depriva-
The 1980s saw a growing organized opposition to the use of animals in experiments, as the suffering and cruelty behind laboratory doors were exposed and the public became outraged. For example, the “Silver Spring Monkeys,” used in invasive neurological research that left them crippled, were found in a Maryland lab in filthy, small barren cages, many with open wounds caused by self-mutilation. The monkeys were seized and the researcher, Dr. Edward Taub, was convicted of several counts of animal cruelty—later overturned on appeal. In Philadelphia, activists (including AAVS) brought attention to brain trauma experiments conducted by Dr. Thomas Gennarelli at the University of Pennsylvania that used a high-powered mechanical device to simulate human injuries. The NIH eventually withdrew funding from the multimillion-dollar experiments, although Gennarelli resurfaced at another university doing similar research on pigs.
These controversial primate experiments, as well as developments in alternative methods, helped push Congress to pass the 1985 amendment to the Animal Welfare Act, perhaps the most significant attempt to codify protections for animals used in research and testing. It requires facilities to have Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees to oversee research labs through internal inspection; ensure that, where scientifically feasible, pain
and distress is minimized and pain relief provided; and that alternatives to painful procedures are considered. The amendment also includes provisions for enrichment to promote the psychological well-being of primates.
Although chimpanzees, as a result of some unique circumstances, are no longer used in invasive research anywhere in the world, much of the monkey research that started in the 1980s continued through the 1990s and beyond. Millions of dollars have been allocated for HIV/AIDS research, with macaques being the most widely used animal model, yet a vaccine remains elusive. Primates have also been used in organ transplantation research, in vitro fertilization studies, vaccine development for infectious diseases like anthrax, Zika, and Ebola, and various types of neurological research.
The pharmaceutical industry routinely uses primates for the final phases of drug and vaccine testing, since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has for decades expected to see those test results as evidence of safety and effectiveness.
More than 113,000 primates were held in U.S. laboratories in 2021, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Although there was a considerable decline in the number of primates in labs from 2010 to 2011, their numbers then fluctuated for several years until increasing by 5% since 2017. By far, macaques are the most used primates in research, but other species such as marmosets, baboons, and vervet monkeys are also used.
Despite the growing ethical concerns about primates used in research, nearly 40% of primates used in experiments suffer pain and distress, as they are subjected to invasive procedures, given extreme doses of drugs and chemicals, and purposely infected with deadly diseases. In brain studies, it is not uncommon for monkeys to have holes drilled into their skulls, electrodes implanted into their brains, and then be locked into restraint devices to measure neurological responses. Because they may not always cooperate, they are often deprived of water to “motivate” participation in experiments.
Back in their cages, and between experiments, they should be provided with enrichment, ideally facilitating a full range of species-specific behaviors, which are vital to their psychological and physical health. It is widely recognized that the best enrichment is social housing in pairs or groups, which reduces the development of common abnormal and stereotypic behaviors such as rocking, pacing, spinning, and self-injury like hair pulling. And yet, social housing is not universal in labs.
When their use in testing ends, a very small percentage of primates might be released to sanctuaries (if space can be found), but the end of the line for most is death.
The controversy surrounding primate research seems to be heading to another crisis point. China, which used to be a major
supplier of monkeys for labs, stopped exporting them at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Cambodia tried to fill the void. In 2022, the Department of Justice indicted several Cambodian officials who allegedly illegally trafficked hundreds of monkeys into the U.S. for Charles River Laboratories, an international animal research contractor and supplier under investigation for its possible involvement in the scheme. That same year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed longtailed macaques as endangered on its Red List of Threatened Species, pointing to the overuse and capture of wild macaques for biomedical research as one cause.
Despite that, special interest groups that defend animal research have not only backed efforts to support all uses of primates in research, they have also tried to reverse the long-tailed macaque’s endangered status. Meanwhile, the NIH has been pushing for funding to expand its breeding facilities. Members of Congress have attempted to mitigate and minimize cruel research on primates, but their calls have been resisted. (see NIH Fails Primates in Research, p.12)
In one bright spot, the NIH, FDA, and other agencies do seem to recognize the potential of technologically sophisticated non-animal methods to reduce and replace the use of primates and other animals, which, along with effective advocacy, will help prevent these animals from suffering on the massive scale that they do today. AV
Crystal
Schaeffer, M.A. Ed., M.A. IPCR, is the Outreach Director for AAVS.
BY CRYSTAL MILLER-SPIEGEL
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MONKEYS ARE IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED STATES EACH YEAR,
primarily because American scientists still customarily use nonhuman primates (NHPs) in pre-clinical human drug trials, vaccine testing, and experiments. This commercial trade in monkeys remains considerable and concerning.1,2 While the COVID-19 pandemic caused a spike in demand as U.S. labs scrambled for monkeys for vaccine experiments, import numbers soon fell as China (the largest exporter of monkeys to the U.S.) halted animal imports and exports.3,4
The “legal” monkey trade is also connected to the illegal trade of primates, which involves captured wild monkeys being unlawfully labeled as being bred in captivity, and has been linked to organized crime.5,6,7 Conservationists have warned that “the global demand for live macaques for biomedical testing and related uses inevitably provides incentives to supply this market [with wild-caught
monkeys for sale or breeding], likely with substantive consequences for local populations of macaques.”8
While rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) are the most used monkeys in U.S. laboratory experiments and rhesus breeding facilities have been established domestically, long-tailed or crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis), who are native to Southeast Asia, are currently the most commonly imported species. According to Indonesian conservation officials, “The annual global demand for long-tailed macaques as experimental animals is around 35,000 individuals. Mauritius is the top exporter of this species, both wild-caught and captive-bred….”9
Through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the American Anti-Vivisection Society acquired Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS) trade data for all live nonhuman primates imported into the U.S. from 1999 to 2022. LEMIS is the
database used by the FWS Office of Law Enforcement to track imports and exports of wildlife and wildlife products. (The data are entered by the importers/ exporters, not FWS staff, so the data may be flawed.)
The trade data AAVS analyzed included all live nonhuman primates imported for all purposes (e.g., zoos, universities, commercial laboratories, etc.), but most monkeys were being imported for laboratory breeding or experiments. A small number of shipments were listed as “refused” by FWS, but we counted the individuals in those shipments (n=1,944 for years 1999-2022) because they are still monkeys in trade.
There are currently 23 facilities registered with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as importers of nonhuman primates “for bona fide scientific, educational, or exhibition purposes." These include private testing and breeding companies, zoos, and universities.
Some scientists have strong concerns about the risks involved with using monkeys imported from other countries. Regarding public health concerns, Warne et al. caution, “The wildlife trade increases opportunities for pathogen spill-over events due to increased contact at the human-wildlife interface, where direct contact can occur at any point in the macaque supply chain including capture, rearing, transport and in research. Transmission risk is further increased as animals traded are often stressed, malnourished and maintained in unhygienic conditions with high stocking densities….”10 Scientists also worry that any pathogens carried by imported monkeys could pose dangers and cause faulty data. An article in the Nov. 17, 2023, issue of Nature, which included comments from microbiologist Ricardo Carrion of the Southwest National Primate Research Center, noted that the use of wild-caught monkeys in medical trials could adversely affect study results. The article stated, “Wild monkeys have already been exposed to a cocktail of diseases, says Carrion. That means that, in vaccine studies, they would produce a very different immune response from animals that have been purpose-bred in sterile facilities.”11
The U.S. imports the greatest number of long-tailed macaques of any country.
Alpha Genesis, Inc., South Carolina
Barton's West End Farm, New Jersey
BC USA LLC, Florida
Buckshire Corporation, Pennsylvania
Central State Primates, Missouri
Charles River, Florida
Charles River, Maryland
Charles River, Texas
Columbus Zoo, Ohio
Dallas Zoo (zoo-to-zoo only)
Envigo Global Services, Pennsylvania
Envigo Global Services, Texas
Milwaukee County Zoo, Wisconsin
LEMIS data show that since 1999, more than 502,184 long-tailed macaques have been imported into the United States. Imports of these macaques have grown in recent years, spiking to 44,380 in 2019. [For comparison, the total number of all live nonhuman primates imported into the U.S. in 1999 was 12,178.] A recent analysis of the global trade in long-tailed macaques found that “peaks in macaque export appear to correspond with declarations of public health emergencies in 2014 (poliovirus and Ebola of West Africa) and 2016 (Zika virus), but trade seems to
FIGURE 1 NONHUMAN PRIMATES IMPORTED TO THE U.S., 1999-2022
Oakhill Avian Center, Oklahoma
Orient BioResource Center, Texas
Primate Products, LLC, Florida
San Diego Zoo Global (San Diego Zoo, San Diego Safari Park)
University of California, Davis; National
Primate Research Center, Davis
University of Louisiana at Lafayette, New
Iberia Research Center
Valley Biosystems, California
Wake Forest University, School of Medicine
Wildlife Conservation Society, New York
Worldwide Primates, Inc., Florida
decrease in the year following these declarations.”12
The monkey trade for biomedical research and testing is a global enterprise, with the estimated value of trade in long-tailed macaques alone being $1.25 billion for 2010-2019.13 According to the LEMIS data, the average cost reported for individual long-tailed macaques was $5,962 in 2022, up from $2,168 in 2017. Recent reports indicate that the cost of long-tailed macaques has skyrocketed, in some cases in the tens of thousands of dollars per monkey.14,15
Data include nonhuman primates imported mainly for biomedical research, but also include those imported for zoos/entertainment. Sources: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Law Enforcement Management System (LEMIS) data obtained by AAVS through a Freedom of Information Act request.
In 2022, records show that 27,282 live nonhuman primates were imported into the U.S. (Figure 1), 97% of whom were long-tailed macaques. Other types of monkeys who are commonly imported, but in much lower numbers, include rhesus macaques, green/vervet monkeys, common marmosets, and squirrel monkeys (Figure 2). Of all monkeys imported in 2022, 19% were labeled as wildcaught—but this depends on exporters accurately entering their own data. While the past five years have shown increased imports of monkeys from Cambodia and Mauritius, those from China have plummeted (see discussion below). A recent analysis of the long-tailed macaque trade stated, “Cambodia has historically been incapable of producing second generation offspring macaques, therefore increasing their production capacity legally seems unlikely. Therefore, the current production capacity of macaque breeding facilities needs to be fully investigated to determine the role, if any, of satellite farms, wild-capture and smuggling.”16 It continued, “[P]revious work has identified a positive correlation between legal imports and illegal seizures of wildlife, to the extent that the legal trade must act as a means for the illegal trade to continue. Cambodia has a known history of unlawfully breeding and trading macaques.”
AAVS has previously described the negative effects of transportation on monkeys17, and animal researchers are still
finding the same results. In fact, they conduct studies on the shipping of monkeys to assess how stressed they become during and after transport. A 2017 study by Shelton et al. at MD Anderson Cancer Center examined the stress of day-long road transport in the U.S. on a group of rhesus macaques and found that the monkeys were immunologically compromised even one month after arrival at their destinations.18 A 2019 study found similar results in long-tailed macaques.19 Although these studies sought to calculate how soon the monkeys could be used in experiments without confounding factors such as elevated stress levels, they continually demonstrate how international air and ground transport stresses monkeys and negatively affects both their physiological and psychological well-being during and long after transport.
Monkeys are transported in large shipments, often hundreds of animals at a time. LEMIS data show that in 2022, 44 shipments of monkeys to the U.S. contained 250 or more individuals in each, and eight shipments contained over 700 monkeys. An AAVS review of transport documents from 2016, obtained through FOIA, showed that large groups of macaques were shipped in plywood crates in “2-packs” or “4-packs.” One shipment of 645 long-tailed macaques involved transport to the airport in Cambodia, a flight to Japan, a flight to Alaska, and a flight to Houston, followed by transport to a CDC-approved quarantine facility in Texas, where they were held and tested for
infectious diseases over 31 days20 before being transported to another laboratory [see map]. According to the CDC, 71 monkeys died in U.S. quarantine facilities in 2019, with another 75 dying the following year.21
In 2020, China banned the import and export of monkeys due to infectious disease concerns related to COVID-19. As China’s research industry has dramatically grown, its stock of monkeys has become depleted, and it is trying to keep monkey experiments within its own borders— even conducting research on monkey breeding farms to avoid transport.22,23 The U.S. and other countries have begun to rely on Cambodia and other nations as sources of monkeys, but the monkey trade has long been rife with illegal activity, such as smuggling monkeys across borders.
In November 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice charged eight people for smuggling thousands of monkeys who were captured in Cambodian national parks and protected areas but were falsely labeled as being born in captivity.24 According to the indictment, since 2018, at least 2,600 macaques have been imported to the U.S. under false permits.
Recent policy actions to protect wild populations of long-tailed macaques, including the FWS’s denial of some monkey shipment permits, have upset animal research proponents. In 2022, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed long-tailed macaques as Endangered—making a
great leap from 2008 when, despite pleas from conservationists, they were listed as a species of Least Concern.25 The IUCN noted that the global wild population had declined by 40% over the past three generations, and is expected to decline another 50% over the next three generations unless protections are implemented. The report states, “Finally, it is worth noting that this species faces both national (within-country) and international threats.
DEPART KANSAI BY PLANE AND ARRIVE IN ANCHORAGE, ALASKA (LAYOVER IN ANCHORAGE)
DEPART ANCHORAGE AND ARRIVE IN HOUSTON, TEXAS
TRANSPORTED BY TRUCK TO QUARANTINE FACILITY IN TEXAS
For example, the demand for non-human primates in research is threatening the species. As such, the research industry needs to become accountable for the effects of their actions on wild non-human primate populations.” In September 2023, the National Association for Biomedical Research, which defends virtually all uses of animals in experiments, filed a petition challenging the IUCN’s classification of long-tailed macaques as Endangered.
1 https://www.science.org/content/article/airlines-fight-effort-force-them-carry-lab-animals
2 https://www.science.org/content/article/airline-s-decision-end-monkey-transports-will-worsenshortage-research
3 https://www.science.org/content/article/airline-s-decision-end-monkey-transports-will-worsenshortage-research
4 https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12724
5 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2022.839131/full
6 https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/conl.12724
7 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2022.839131/full#F1
8 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Malene-Friis-Hansen-2/publication/349338354_Conservation_of_Long-tailed_Macaques_Implications_of_the_Updated_IUCN_Status_and_the_CoVID-19_Pandemic/links/602b825392851c4ed5752da6/Conservation-of-Long-tailed-MacaquesImplications-of-the-Updated-IUCN-Status-and-the-CoVID-19-Pandemic.pdf
9 https://cites.org/sites/default/files/ndf_material/NDF_MEP_Indonesia_2023%20%281%29. pdf
10 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235277142300040X?ssrnid=4327763&dg cid=SSRN_redirect_SD#bb0070
11 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03533-1
12 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235277142300040X?ssrnid=4327763&dg cid=SSRN_redirect_SD#bb0070
13 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2022.839131/full
The writing is on the wall: Now is the logical time for scientists to reexamine their experimental methods and utilize nonanimal-based models of testing and research in lieu of exploiting even greater numbers of monkeys who are stressed and suffering, possibly illegally captured, and dwindling in numbers. AV
Crystal Miller-Spiegel, M.A., is Senior Policy Analyst for AAVS.
14 https://www.science.org/content/article/supply-monkeys-research-crisis-point-u-s-government-report-concludes
15 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03533-1#:~:text=The%20report%20also%20 found%20that,they%20can%20fetch%20around%20%2455%2C000.
16 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235277142300040X?ssrnid=4327763&dg cid=SSRN_redirect_SD#bb0125
17 https://issuu.com/aavs/docs/avmagazine-issue3-2011/18
18 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5736198/
19 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6926399/
20 https://www.cdc.gov/importation/laws-and-regulations/nonhuman-primates/nprm/qageneral.html
21 https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjGl 9OjuIWDAxXelokEHbQXBsEQFnoECBUQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalacademies.org%2Fdocuments%2Fembed%2Flink%2FLF2255DA3DD1C41C0A42D3BEF0989A CAECE3053A6A9B%2Ffile%2FD62C78201C2CCDEC0061FF770612F7F975F25896F1F7 &usg=AOvVaw0B8kY1GYOlfvzhsyogaIe0&opi=89978449
22 https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1013062
23 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8236990/
24 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/17/cambodian-wildlife-official-among-eightcharged-in-us-with-smuggling-endangered-monkeys
25 https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022- 1.RLTS.T12551A199563077.en
Just because they’re used in labs doesn’t mean they’re ‘lab animals.’ The most commonly used primates in U.S. experiments originate from all over the world.1 Most of those used are born in breeding facilities, but others are wild-caught and imported (sometimes illegally).2
Macaca fascicularis
NATURAL LIFESPAN 25—30 YEARS
Also called crab-eating or long-tailed macaques, the wild populations of this species are dropping “at unprecedented levels” due to increased hunting and trapping for the research trade. They can be found in swamps, forests, and grasslands. Males have mustaches, while females have beards; females give birth to only one baby at a time, about twice a year. Although they eat mostly fruit, coastal colonies have learned to use tools to crack open crabs and oysters. COVID-19 research skyrocketed their demand by laboratories, and in 2022 the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed them as endangered. “The IUCN estimates that the species has experienced a decline of at least 40% over the last three generations (approximately 40 years)…and [predicts] the species will experience at least a 50% decline in the coming three generations.” Used for disease, pharmaceutical, cardiology and toxicology research.
Papio Anubis (olive), Papio hamadryas (hamadryas)
NATURAL LIFESPAN 25—30 YEARS
Olive and hamadryas baboons live in more than two dozen countries in sub-Saharan Africa and occasionally interbreed. Olive baboons live in troops of up to 150 individuals, where 60-pound males are twice as big as the females. They have complex social structures and more than a dozen distinct vocalizations. Olive baboons play an important environmental role by dispersing seeds from the many types of fruits they eat.
The smaller hamadryas live in arid regions where they travel up to 8 miles per day and sleep on rocky cliffs. Their four-level social structure is dominated by males who communicate daily to decide where their groups will forage next. With their distinctive bushy manes, hamadryas were considered sacred avatars of Thoth, the god of learning in ancient Egypt, but are extinct there today. Used for genetic and infectious disease research, contraception, xenotransplants, pertussis, sepsis, and stroke studies.
1 Nonhuman Primate Evaluation and Analysis, National Institutes of Health, Office of Research Infrastructure Programs, Sept. 19, 2018; www.orip.nih.gov.
2 https://www.reuters.com/world/us/charles-river-gets-doj-subpoena-cambodian-supply-lab-monkeys-2023-02-22/
Callithrix jacchus
NATURAL LIFESPAN 10—15 YEARS
Macaca mulatta
NATURAL LIFESPAN 25—30 YEARS
These monkeys are second only to humans as the most widely dispersed primates on earth, able to live in forests, cities, and diverse environments in between. Weighing 12—18 pounds and living in large groups with strict, territorial hierarchies, these macaques are known for being very active and resourceful. Their versatility also threatens them, since those who live in populated areas often come into conflict with their human neighbors. Used for toxicology, AIDS, and infectious disease studies.
More than 50 species of marmosets live in Central and South America, but the type most often used in research is the common marmoset. Native to northeast Brazil, they have distinctive white tufts on their heads, striped tails, and are adept at leaping and clinging. Their teeth are designed for sucking tree sap, and they also eat insects and fruit. Their small size and higher birthrate—usually twins, twice a year—have made them increasingly more popular for lab use, since they cost less to house and feed. But captive marmosets often suffer (and many die) from Wasting Marmoset Syndrome, which causes weight loss, chronic diarrhea, anemia, and hair loss. Used for pharmacology, neurology, and toxicity testing as well as aging, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease studies.
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
SQUIRREL MONKEY
Saimiri
NATURAL LIFESPAN 15—20 YEARS
At least seven species of squirrel monkeys—so named because of their size, speed, and agility—live in the tropical forests of Central and South America. They have the largest brain-to-body ratio of all primates. They eat mostly fruit and insects, and their social groups consist of—and are run by—related females, with males on the periphery or in their own groups. Babies are raised by their mothers as well as their ‘aunts.’ Unlike other primates, play among squirrel monkeys is common among adults as well as young. Their small size has also made them vulnerable to capture for the pet trade. Used for vaccine development, virology, neuroscience.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THESE AND OTHER PRIMATE SPECIES, VISIT WWW.NEPRIMATECONSERVANCY.ORG
by Angela Hvitved
Biomedical research using nonhuman primates (or “primate research”) raises a broad range of ethical concerns. Researchers defend it on the grounds that their similarity to humans makes them scientifically the best option for answering important questions in human biology and medicine. However, this creates a dilemma: If primates are useful because their biology and behavior are so similar to that of humans, why is it okay to harm them in ways that would be unethical to harm humans?
Primates used in federally funded research are covered by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and the Public Health Service (PHS) Policy, which is implemented by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH is the largest federal funder of biomedical research in the U.S., and the largest single public funder of biomedical and behavioral research in the world. Because the NIH can develop many of its own grant policies, its central role as a funder means that NIH policies could include more protective or higher standards, which would have a significant impact on the lives of many primates used in research across the country.
Most people know that the NIH gives grants to researchers at universities, but it also funds research at contract research organizations and internal research at the NIH, as well as funding the National Primate Research Centers (NPRCs) and related breeding programs. The complexity of these funding arrangements and the NIH’s lax approach to reporting make it impossible to know the total number of primates who are used in NIH-funded research, and where they are. However, using the annual numbers reported to the U.S. Department of Agri-
culture (USDA), which is required by the AWA, we know that almost a third of primates reported to the USDA in FY2021 (35,179 animals) lived in NIH-supported facilities. Universities accounted for another 14% of primates reported, and it is likely that many of these animals were used in NIH-funded research, given the NIH’s prominent role in funding academic research.1
The lack of reporting requirements for primates used in research is in stark contrast to the NIH’s reporting requirements
Creating policies for more rigorous and consistent ethical review of the primate studies it funds is one way the NIH could address ethical concerns about primate research.
for human subjects in clinical research. Investigators who receive funding for clinical trials must report detailed information about the people enrolled, including their gender and race and ethnicity. This requires a significant reporting effort, but also shows that the NIH’s failure to provide transparency about the primate research it funds and the animals involved is not a technological or logistical issue, but rather a policy decision.
The NIH funds a broad range of primate research activities, from observational studies to highly invasive biomedical
studies. In addition to living conditions that are often insufficient for well-being (and are generally inferior to requirements in the European Union), animal protection advocates, ethicists, and others have raised concerns about the suffering caused by invasive studies, especially for neuroscience and infectious disease research, where monkeys might have electrodes implanted in their brains or be infected with pathogens in order to test new vaccines or drugs. Research on select agents that can be used for bioterrorism, such as anthrax and ricin, is another area in which primates are used.
A particular concern is an emerging area of research using genetic engineering in attempts to create better primate models of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Knowing how much suffering these diseases cause in humans, the ethical implications of this type of research have not received the attention they deserve.
The NIH insists that its current policies and processes for reviewing primate research are sufficient to ensure “responsible oversight” of these studies.2 Yet despite the many ethical considerations that are inherent in research with such highly social and intelligent animals, the NIH does not have additional review requirements for primate research beyond what is required for other animals covered by their policies. Furthermore, there appears to be a concerning disconnect between the public’s understanding of the NIH’s review process and what occurs in practice. A 2023 National Academies report on primate research reiterated the frequent claim that Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) review the scientific justification for using primates in each project, but many peer-reviewed
publications suggest that IACUCs are often uncomfortable evaluating whether the studies they review are “worthwhile” and do so inconsistently.3,4 Creating policies for more rigorous and consistent ethical review of the primate studies it funds is one way the NIH could address ethical concerns about primate research.
The NIH’s most significant program for primate research is the NPRC network. There are seven NPRCs across the country that provide animals and specialized expertise for researchers. The NPRC network website states that “approximately 1000 investigations involving over 2150 investigators” are performed through the NPRCs each year.5 The primary goal of the program is facilitating the “effective use of nonhuman primates (NHPs)…by providing the animals, facilities, expertise, and resources required to enable NHP research…”6
Despite their experience and prominence, several NPRCs have concerning track records of AWA violations. In 2022, the Oregon National Primate Research Center agreed to a settlement with the USDA for multiple violations, including for several primates who were injured by features of their enclosures and the tragic deaths of two monkeys who were accidentally put through a cage-washing machine.7 The Washington National Primate Research Center has a long list of violations related to primate deaths resulting from poor care and lack of oversight, including animals dying due to poor communication between staff as well as an outbreak of Valley fever at a breeding facility that killed at least 47 animals.8 Yet, these facilities tout their “exemplary status” on animal care accreditation reviews, raising questions about the process for assessing the quality of care received by these animals.9
The NIH continues to resist pressure for more rigorous ethical review of primate research or to implement policies that
would substantially improve the welfare of the animals involved. In 2016, Congress tasked the NIH with reviewing its “ethical policies and processes” for primate research to ensure appropriate justification.10 Unfortunately, in response to this charge, the NIH held a workshop to highlight the results of primate research it has funded, with little actual discussion of ethics.
In 2018, the NIH’s Office of Research Infrastructure Programs released two reports examining the demand for and supply of primates for research, and predicted significant shortages for meeting future “needs.” However, these reports overlook that “need” is a subjective concept and not a scientific fact. A recent National Academies study commissioned by the NIH to examine the landscape of primate research explicitly excluded any discussion of ethical considerations. Again, the study predicted significant shortages of primates for research and called for increased funding for domestic breeding programs.11 It is disappointing that the NIH has repeatedly chosen to ignore the concerns of Congress and the public regarding the ethical standards for primate research. Instead it has focused on increasing the number of primates available for research,
overlooking the many policy tools that could be used to start addressing the serious concerns that have been raised. AV
Angela Hvitved, Ph.D., is Program Director for the Alternatives Research & Development Foundation.
1 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Nonhuman Primate Models in Biomedical Research: State of the Science and Future Needs. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2023, p79-83. https://doi. org/10.17226/26857.
2 https://osp.od.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/NHP_NIH_ Workshop_Report_01_18_2017.pdf.
3 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Nonhuman Primate Models in Biomedical Research, p24. https://doi.org/10.17226/26857.
4 Silverman, Jerald, Charles W. Lidz, Jonathan C. Clayfield, Alexandra Murray, Lorna J. Simon, and Richard G. Rondeau. “Decision Making and the IACUC: Part 1- Protocol Information Discussed at Full-Committee Reviews.” Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science: JAALAS 54, no. 4 (July 2015): 389–98.
5 https://nprcresearch.org/primate/
6 https://orip.nih.gov/resource-directory/national-primateresearch-centers
7 https://news.ohsu.edu/2022/11/01/ohsu-statement-onusda-settlement-agreement
8 O’Dell, Rob. “Sickness and Death at Mesa-Area Monkey Farm Threaten Primate Center Viability.” AZCentral, October 5, 2021, online edition, sec. Investigations. https:// eu.azcentral.com/in-depth/news/local/arizona-investigations/2021/10/05/valley-fever-mesa-monkey-facilityresearch/8371758002/.
9 https://nprcresearch.org/primate/animalwelfare.php
10 Grimm, David. “NIH to Review Its Policies on All Nonhuman Primate Research.” ScienceInsider (blog), February 22, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf4090.
11 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Nonhuman Primate Models in Biomedical Research, p6. https://doi.org/10.17226/26857.
By Erika Fleury
On a county road in Wisconsin, not far from a Methodist summer camp and a fire department, live 13 monkeys of species found across the globe. Among them are rhesus macaque Ganesha (native to India) and vervet Bella, a monkey normally found in Africa. Why are they living 7,000 miles from their natural habitats when they should be exploring the savannas of Senegal and the deserts of Rajasthan?
Ganesha and Bella, and hundreds of thousands of other monkeys like them, live lives drastically unlike what they would experience in the wild, due to their importation and/or breeding for the pet trade, biomedical research, and even entertainment. Such industries use monkeys for human benefit, without the animals’ consent. When monkeys are no longer useful for research, or grow too challenging to manage as “pets” or entertainers (an inevitability after just a few years), the lucky ones eventually are placed at reputable primate sanctuaries. Many others may be euthanized, recycled into new studies, or returned to breeders and used to create even more “pets.”
Luck smiled on Ganesha and Bella. Despite early starts to their lives that surely involved discomfort (Bella lived in a human home and Ganesha was used in laboratory research), they now live at Primates Incorporated, an accredited sanctuary founded in 2004 by Amy Kerwin, a former primate laboratory worker whose experiences compelled her to bring about change to ensure “the monkeys achieve some sort of dignity.”
Primates Incorporated and other sanctuaries could take in more monkeys if they had more funding. A 2016 paper found that monkey care is about 70% cheaper in a sanctuary than in a laboratory, but the value of sanctuary retirement is about much more than just dollars and cents — it’s about quality of life. Nonhuman primates, like humans, have unique personalities and preferences; some are more social and prefer to be around friends, while others may prefer solitary time, and sanctuary care permits both. As they could in the wild, sanctuary residents can choose how to spend their day.
Animals living in quality sanctuaries have their needs met with nutritious, varied diets, regular veterinary care, and enriching opportunities that permit them species-appropriate physical activities, as well as opportunities to flex their mental muscles, which is equally important. Choosing puzzles or toys and working to procure desired food all ensure that captive monkeys engage in healthy behaviors.
Providing these services is neither glamorous nor
profitable, and so there also exist facilities that call themselves a “rescue” or “sanctuary” but do not provide appropriate care and may even exploit the very animals they claim to be helping! No laws define who can call themselves a sanctuary, but there are a number of markers that can help the public distinguish a bona fide animal sanctuary.
Reputable primate sanctuaries are nonprofit organizations that do not breed, sell, or trade animals and never engage in activities that benefit humans, such as daily exhibition, photo opportunities, training to perform, or public handling. They are not open to the public but may open a few days per year for donor visits. They are also fiscally responsible and do not take in more animals than they can care for. True sanctuaries have independent oversight and must meet the rigorous standards set by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.* The North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA) ensures that its members are GFAS accredited and meet additional quality standards.
Monkey sanctuaries strive to maximize their services however possible, but the reality is that they have to say “no” more than they’d like. Kerwin explains that at Primates Incorporated, “We’ve been contacted to help over 80 monkeys since we opened our doors in 2018” but have only been able to welcome 13 so far. Sanctuary space is more in demand than ever, and although most sanctuaries have room to expand, they need funding and time to do so. The average annual care for a sanctuary monkey is estimated at $8,000. Construction of primate habitats can cost hundreds of thousands
of dollars, and related expenses like staffing, veterinary services, and food have all risen considerably. Primates Incorporated estimates that it takes six months to a year of planning to build and prepare to welcome each new arrival.
When a placement request comes for a new monkey, reputable sanctuaries rely on their finely tuned intake procedures to gather details about an animal’s history, health, social experiences, and more to gauge their long-term ability to care for him or her. The sanctuary must determine if it can meet the daily needs of the individual, and if he or she will be able to join an existing social group. This involves asking questions about veterinary care, reproductive status or alterations, and if teeth have been removed (a cruel practice common in the pet trade with lifetime nutritional ramifications). Another factor is funding; most sanctuaries ask for an animal’s lifetime care costs to be provided by the owner, but sadly, this is not always available, and sanctuaries sometimes have to rely on public or foundation support to make up the difference for an emergency rescue.
Staffing is another issue. While there are wonderfully dedicated employees at all sanctuaries, physically demanding work at a nonprofit focused on animals who have upsetting histories is not something that has broad appeal, so it can be difficult to attract and keep care staff. Sanctuaries tend to be located in rural areas that may have limited housing and social opportunities for humans, so they sometimes have better luck hiring from their pool of experienced local volunteers. Additionally, the field is navigating a dearth of veterinarians with primate experience, since zoos often lure candidates away with the glitter of higher salaries, more diverse species, and urban locations. Sanctuary caregiving recognizes no holidays or weekends, and providing constant care while also keeping up with maintenance and expensive expansion is a huge job for sanctuary leadership.
To counter the challenges, NAPSA’s network shares best practices amongst the membership. The alliance conducts compensation studies to ensure sanctuary caregiver rates are appropriate, has provided complimentary access to supportive services (including financial planning and grant research), and serves as a link between owners and sanctuaries to facilitate placements.
Bella and Ganesha are just two of many cases. When monkeys are bred or procured for research or human companionship and then are no longer meeting that need, they often have decades of life ahead of them. Rhesus macaques like Ganesha have a life expectancy of 25 years, and for vervets like Bella, 30 years. Ganesha had already spent 17 years in a lab before she arrived at Primates Incorporated, and “pets” like Bella often become unable to be safely handled after only a few years of life.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2022 there were more than 100,000 monkeys living in research laboratories. Although there is no reliable number of primates living as “pets” in the U.S., 23 states still permit private ownership of some monkey species, and monkeys have been found kept illegally in the other 27 states. Until laws change to end primate exploitation in this country, funding must be available if our nation’s sanctuaries are to house ever-increasing numbers of monkeys.
The little guys are out there, and they need help now. AV
Erika Fleury is Director of the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (www.primatesanctuaries.org).
As the Deputy CEO of the Asia for Animals Coalition and Lead Coordinator of the Asia for Animals Macaque Coalition, Brooke
Aldrich has studied, worked with, and worked on behalf of primates for many years. She is particularly interested in how human perceptions and exploitation of nonhuman primates affect primate welfare and conservation.
AAVS: What qualities make macaques unique among primate species?
BROOKE: They’re very social animals, and they live in these sometimes quite complicated societies with really strict rules. Something they’ve got going for them—and against them—is they’re incredibly adaptable and they can learn to survive. When people have destroyed where they should be living, they find ways to survive.
What has been your experience with them?
I was always obsessed with monkeys as a little kid, but I didn’t know you could actually do anything that had to do with monkeys. I came to the U.K. and volunteered at a monkey sanctuary for rescued ex-pet primates. And absolutely everything changed for me—from that point I wound up going to quite a few different places in the world, working with rescued monkeys of all sorts of species.
What challenges are wild macaques facing right now?
Deforestation is a massive problem; you’ve got coconut plantations taking up entire islands that used to be macaque habitat. Certain macaque species, because of their adaptability, learn to cope in ways that get them in massive trouble with people, so they can be thought of as overpopulated [and] they will be killed in mass numbers. What’s actually happening is they’re just really visible because the food that’s left for them to eat is the food we’re providing for them, intentionally or not. [And] they’re caught to be used as pets and used for some pretty grim social media content as well.
Is that affecting the rate of capture and/or breeding?
We know from recent incidents that some wild-caught monkeys are being passed off as captive bred. If you look at the numbers reported by exporting countries and those reported by importing countries, they often don’t match. We managed to document 12 active breeding centers in Indonesia, and they shouldn’t be able to produce the number of monkeys that they’re exporting. Often the ‘solution’ to conflict between people and macaques seems to be, “Why don’t we just capture them all and put them in breeding centers? Or, just export them and say that they’re captivebred?” All you can do is look at a lot of things that don’t quite add up and see that it’s very suspicious.
Behaviorally, are wild and captive-bred macaques any different?
When they are raised in conditions that are likely to be the case
in these breeding centers, you get serious psychological abnormalities that last. They all have basic fundamental needs that aren’t met in a household situation, breeding center, or laboratory. Disease is an issue that’s exacerbated under all the stress that comes with capture and transport, and most likely the conditions in the breeding centers. With compromised immune systems, it’s just another problem which can spill over into human beings, as we know from the last few years.
Do current laws and regulations currently adequately address welfare concerns and transparency regarding the use of macaques in research?
No. The only reason that’s a tricky answer is that I suppose different people mean different things when they’re talking about welfare. From my perspective, absolutely, 100 percent not. People who approve of utilization might see things differently.
You alluded earlier that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has procedures that are supposed to be followed, but that doesn’t seem to jibe with what happens on the ground.
Even if it was all being followed, regardless of what you’re using [the monkeys] for, the fundamental needs that these animals have are the same. And one of them is being with their social groups in an environment suitable for their species, and that is not what happens when they’re used in these ways, transported, [or] in breeding centers. And that’s a very big problem in the welfare of any primate.
grown, and the organizations have become better at working together in between those conferences. I joined the team of coordinators in 2020.
What’s the priority now?
There’s so much happening with long-tailed macaques related to the biomedical industry. There was a CITES Animals Committee meeting [in June 2023] at which a lot of the people I work with were trying hard to get a focus on certain countries’ usage of long-tailed macaques, because their [exporting] numbers are inconsistent. You might have a grassroots organization that desperately wants to do something, but they don’t necessarily have a lot of experience with strategy or with the scientific information that backs up what they’re talking about. So I’ll get organizations that provide those; I just try to pull them all together and get them talking about things so they can work together to stop something that needs to be stopped, or encourage something that needs to be encouraged.
Are there any other global efforts that stand a chance of stemming this problem, both in breeding and capture?
THEIR LIVES MEAN EVERYTHING TO THEM, JUST LIKE OUR LIVES MEAN EVERYTHING TO US.
Is it possible to breed the high number of monkeys based on the current demand?
It’s not really possible, that’s one of the major reasons it’s suspected that [monkey] laundering is much more common than we know for sure. There are a lot of situations where this is pretty clearly what’s going on. When you talk to person after person who works directly with macaques in the countries they are sourced from, they see the same sorts of things happening over and over again—that these [breeding] places don’t have the capacity to provide the numbers of animals that they’re reporting.
How did the Macaque Coalition come about?
The Macaque Coalition is a working group that is part of the Asia for Animals Coalition, [with] 24 core member organizations and several hundred network member organizations. In the early 2000s, the founding groups organized the Asia for Animals Conference, which was a big success, so they started doing that every two years. The Coalition has developed and
I feel as though individual nations need to start doing their best to protect the macaques, whether that is in the form of reviewing how and how often and why they use them, to how they deal with them in the wild if they’re a habitat country. We need countries to look at all of these different issues that macaques are facing as one big connected thing, rather than separate things. Although we’re talking about biomedical research and exports and things like that, it’s also directly related to crop-foraging primates and negative interactions between people and primates. And [for] people [to] stop seeing them as pests or as commodities, and start realizing they’re individuals as unique as you or I. I really don’t hesitate to use the word ‘person,’ but maybe for these purposes I’ll just say that their lives mean everything to them, just like our lives mean everything to us. We need to learn to coexist with them, and this biomedical thing is just one big aspect of that.
Is it fair to say that if we could reduce the demand for macaques in the U.S., and in China if that’s even possible, that the supply side would be less critical?
I think it’s very fair to say that. I would potentially worry that research [using primates] might just move on to other countries, but if we could avoid that happening, that would be great. Just this morning I saw quite a positive article about the use of alternatives to primates and other animals in research, and I feel if we could really get that going well, it would be huge. AV
WHO CARES ABOUT ANIMALS IN LABS? We do. And after they are released and the rescue is over? We still do.
Providing quality lifetime care at sanctuaries for animals who have come out of research facilities takes skill and dedication. But AAVS is committed to ensuring that when animals manage to get out of harm’s way, they are treated with the care and respect that they deserve. Providing sustained support for sanctuaries is the least we can do for them, but costs are rising every year.
Pictured above is Arden, who arrived at Chimp Haven with her mother in 2013. She was only 4 years old and still very much attached to her mom. Chimpanzees were still under threat of being used in research, so AAVS made a commitment to support Arden and six other baby chimps with our "Total Lifetime Care" (TLC) endowment fund in order to protect them.
AAVS members have watched with delight as these youngsters grow and blossom into teens who have purpose and a place in their chimp society. Arden is known for her intelligence and curiosity, and her fondness for the younger chimps in her group. And did we mention her fondness for spending time in trees? She is wellrounded and content, but it's only because of people who care.
Will you help? Please consider designating a gift to the Sanctuary Fund using the envelope enclosed. Fully 100% of your gift will be applied to funding for sanctuaries that AAVS knows are doing their best for the animals. To donate online and learn more, visit www.aavs.org/SanctuarySupport.
Thank you!
For information on planned giving, leadership gifts, recurring gifts, or other support, contact Chris Derer, Director of Development & Member Services, at 800-SAY-AAVS or cderer@aavs.org. When including AAVS in your estate plans or sending a donation, please use our legal title and office address: American Anti-Vivisection Society, 801 Old York Road, Suite 204, Jenkintown, PA 19046-1611. EIN: 23-0341990. AAVS is a not for profit 501(c)(3) organization to which contributions are 100 percent tax-deductible under federal and state law.
In memory of Martin Stephens. With gratitude for the many talents he brought to advocating for animals in science. We remember with deepest appreciation his gentle guidance, kindness, humor, and wisdom. He reached across barriers, and shined a light on a path to progress.
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In loving memory of our mother, Carolyn Lieberman, who advocated for animal rights throughout her life.
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In memory of Jeffrey and my parents. Miss you being in my life.
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In honor of AAVS. My heartfelt thanks to you for helping the animals.
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In memory of Koko and Toffee. Best cats ever! Rest in peace.
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In memory of Punch (2006 – 2023). Punch was a great dog. We had a wonderful journey that included agility, tricks and countless hikes.
Dianne Traphagen Middle Haddam, CT
In memory of Cherylbeth Martin. She was an animal lover.
Allan Martin Fair Lawn, NJ
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In memory of all my babies. You all gave me love and a life I cherish. Memories are not enough.
Diane Vieau Waukesha, WI
In memory of Chico. To my sweet boy – I miss you, handsome pants!
Ronda Lauria Floral Park, NY
In memory of Coney, Martini, Mandy, Neely and Oreo. My sweetest rescues whom I shall miss forever.
Patricia Walder Pomona, CA
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In loving memory of Zippy, my rescued Amazon parrot, for many years of compassion and love. I miss you!
Leslie Baker Spokane, WA
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Anna Parent
Long Beach, CA
In memory of Akio. You gave us 17 years of cat beauty and love.
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In honor of Roger O’Donnell, for his kindness and care of animals.
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In honor of Diane J. Lynch, who has been a strong advocate for abused animals for a very long time.
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In memory of Priscilla Cummings. Remembering Priscilla as a wonderful mother and grandmother, and friend to all animals. Rest in Peace.
Sue Leary Ambler, PA
You can honor or memorialize a companion animal or animal lover by making a donation in his or her name. Gifts of any amount are greatly appreciated. A tribute accompanied by a gift of $50 or more will be published in AV Magazine. At your request, we will also notify the family of the individual you have remembered. All donations are used to continue AAVS’s mission of ending the use of animals in biomedical research, product testing, and education.
THERE IS STRENGTH IN NUMBERS.
Uniting our members for a common cause is an essential part of AAVS’s mission. Every day, we actively seek advocacy opportunities for our members that will lead to meaningful, lasting change for animals. The actions that we recommend to you are timely and important, and the animals depend on AAVS members to speak out on their behalf.
The Captive Primate Safety Act, model bipartisan legislation that is designed to prohibit personal possession of nonhuman primates (including chimpanzees and monkeys), is such an opportunity. The need for this law, which has recently been reintroduced in the current Congress as H.R. 8164/S. 4206, is critical to addressing a persistent, serious harm to animals, especially mothers and their babies.
Keeping wild animals as pets is unethical, impractical, and poses risks to both the animals and humans involved. Primates are highly intelligent and social creatures who have complex needs that cannot be met in a private home. They have specific needs, based on their natural, native environments. These always include space to explore and roam, social relationships with their own species, and diverse diets that include fresh fruits, vegetables, and insects. Captivity as a pet deprives them of these essentials, leading to stress, boredom, and health problems.
Nonhuman primates can also pose significant risks to public health and safety. They may carry diseases transmissible to humans, such as herpes B virus and tuberculosis, presenting a serious health concern. And as they mature, they can become aggressive and unpredictable, posing a danger to their owners and others around them.
The exotic pet trade also fuels illegal wildlife trafficking and contributes to the decline of wild primate populations. The capture and transport of primates often involve cruel and inhumane practices, including poaching and smuggling. Furthermore, wildlife sanctuaries are already overcrowded with exotic animals formerly kept as pets, which adds additional burden to their already limited resources, including their ability to rescue primates from labs.
It is crucial to advocate for the protection of primates in their natural habitats and to support initiatives like the Captive Primate Safety Act that promote their conservation and welfare. We invite our members to take action by going to our website: aavs.org/primatesafety.
For the animals,
Chris Derer Director of Development & Member Services
More and more often, animals in labs are being given a second chance. AAVS offers members the opportunity to direct special contributions to care for animals who were once used in laboratories or exploited in other ways. Through the Sanctuary Fund, donors can support one of our most rewarding programs, providing grants to sanctuaries that help animals recover and live in peace.
100% of donations go toward the grant program
“Our efforts to protect primates
LISA KEMMERER, PH.D. will be much more effective if we dismantle the artificial line that we have created between ourselves and other animals.”