Chimp research facility's staff fearful about moving animals
4 of 13 chimps transferred to a sanctuary have
died.
á By Edgar Walters and Shelby Knowles
The Texas Tribune The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan,
nonprofit media organization that informs
Texans about policy, politics, government and
state issues.
SH Chimpanzees play with straw in their pod at the Keeling
Center for Comparative Medicine and Research north of
Bastrop.
Tucked into the semi-wilderness a few miles north of Bastrop,
within spitting distance of a federal prison, Nahja, a 25-year-old chimpanzee at the Keeling
Center for Comparative Medicine and Research, wraps a
handful of woolly nesting material around her head into
something that resembles a shawl.
When a handler calls
her name, Nahja stretches out her massive hands
and catches an orange — this morningÕs treat — tossed
from the observation balcony overlooking the
75-foot-wide corral where she and the rest of her social group live.
When a handler calls
her name, Nahja stretches out her massive hands
and catches an orange — this morningÕs treat — tossed
from the observation balcony overlooking the
75-foot-wide corral where she and the rest of her social group live.
At the 381-acre facility,
nearly a dozen groups of nine to 12 chimpanzees wait for their oranges
atop raised wooden platforms in the separated corrals that
house the research animals.
Fruit treats, frequent
veterinary checkups, behavioral experiments
in which the animals can exchange tokens with scientists
for a reward — this is the life of the research chimpanzees who live behind a 16-foot protective
fence. But soon that could change.
In November, the National
Institutes of Health announced it would no longer support
biomedical research on chimpanzees and that all federally
owned chimps would be retired to sanctuaries. Animal
rights advocates hailed the move, but itÕs left behind feelings
of anxiety at the Keeling Center, TexasÕ major chimpanzee
research facility and one of the largest in the country.
In November, the National
Institutes of Health announced it would no longer support
biomedical research on chimpanzees and that all federally
owned chimps would be retired to sanctuaries. Animal
rights advocates hailed the move, but itÕs left behind feelings
of anxiety at the Keeling Center, TexasÕ major chimpanzee
research facility and one of the largest in the country.
ÒI think itÕs a very unfortunate
thing,Ó Christian Abee, the centerÕs director,
said of the announcement.
Though his facility
has not conducted any biomedical experiments
on chimpanzees since 2012, Abee said primate
researchers were Òcontinuing to learn from chimpanzees
through these observational studies,Ó which he said would
largely end when the animals live in a sanctuary. Roughly 4
percent of the chimpanzee population at the Keeling
Center dies each year, Abee said.
Though his facility
has not conducted any biomedical experiments
on chimpanzees since 2012, Abee said primate
researchers were Òcontinuing to learn from chimpanzees
through these observational studies,Ó which he said would
largely end when the animals live in a sanctuary. Roughly 4
percent of the chimpanzee population at the Keeling
Center dies each year, Abee said.
The research facility,
part of the [University of Texas] M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, opened in 1975. It also
houses monkeys and livestock animals. Scientists
associated with the facility have studied cancer,
hepatitis, HIV and diabetes, and before biomedical
research was ended on the chimps, that included infecting
some of the animals with hepatitis.
The research facility,
part of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, opened in 1975. It also
houses monkeys and livestock animals. Scientists
associated with the facility have studied cancer,
hepatitis, HIV and diabetes, and before biomedical
research was ended on the chimps, that included infecting
some of the animals with hepatitis.
The chimps are set to be moved to Chimp Haven, the federally
designated sanctuary near Shreveport, La., but it remains
unclear when that will happen. The sanctuary has room for
about 50 more animals, and transferring chimpanzees is
a Òlong, arduous process,Ó said Cathy Willis Spraetz,
Chimp HavenÕs president and chief executive.
But when they get there,
she said, the chimps have access to a setting more similar
to a natural habitat. ÒWe have open-air yards that are significantly
larger, and then we have three multi-acre, wooded habitats,Ó Spraetz said. The sanctuary can house roughly 200
chimpanzees.
On Nov. 18, National
Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins announced
the end of federally funded chimpanzee research, saying
the country had Òreached a tipping point.Ó
All federally
owned chimpanzees would be relocated to sanctuaries
Òwith careful consideration of their welfare, including
their health and social grouping,Ó he said.
But if you ask the
roughly 30 research and veterinary staff who work with chimpanzees
at the Keeling campus, those considerations would
be best served by allowing the chimps to live out their final
years where they are — what Abee calls Òretirement
in place.Ó
About half of the Keeling
CenterÕs chimps are older than 35, elderly enough to be considered
geriatric. One of the centerÕs 35-foot wide Òprimadomes,Ó
geodesic metal domes with latticed wire exteriors,
features gently sloping wooden ramps, resembling something
like a treehouse for a person in a wheelchair,
or a kind of old-folksÕ home for the achiest and most arthritic chimps. Researchers
here have published scientific articles about the effectiveness
of chimpanzee acupuncture and other specialized geriatric
care that Abee says is unavailable elsewhere.
About half of the Keeling
CenterÕs chimps are older than 35, elderly enough to be considered
geriatric. One of the centerÕs 35-foot wide Òprimadomes,Ó
geodesic metal domes with latticed wire exteriors,
features gently sloping wooden ramps, resembling something
like a treehouse for a person in a wheelchair,
or a kind of old-folksÕ home for the achiest and most arthritic chimps. Researchers
here have published scientific articles about the effectiveness
of chimpanzee acupuncture and other specialized geriatric
care that Abee says is unavailable elsewhere.
For the federal government,
paying for the chimps to remain at the Keeling Center is
more costly than sending them to retire at Chimp Haven. The National
Institutes of Health pays about $57 per day for chimpanzees living
in Bastrop. At Chimp Haven, it pays roughly $41 per chimp per day. Private
fundraising pays for one-fourth of the sanctuaryÕs costs of caring
for the animals, Spraetz said.
Abee praised Chimp HavenÕs facilities,
but he said the stress of moving can take a fatal toll on older, more
frail chimpanzees. Of the 13 chimps his facility had transferred
last year to Chimp Haven, four died or were euthanized within
the first three months, he said. Chimpanzees, an endangered
species native to West and Central Africa, can live to 60 years in
captivity.
ÒI donÕt mean this as a
criticism of Chimp Haven, but we uprooted them, took them from
their family groups; we moved them cross-country; we put them in unfamiliar
settings with caregivers who didnÕt know them, and four died,Ó Abee said. ÒWe would not have anticipated
those four to die if they had stayed here.Ó
ÒI donÕt mean this as a
criticism of Chimp Haven, but we uprooted them, took them from
their family groups; we moved them cross-country; we put them in unfamiliar
settings with caregivers who didnÕt know them, and four died,Ó Abee said. ÒWe would not have anticipated
those four to die if they had stayed here.Ó
Spraetz said her sanctuary
staff worked on Òhigh alertÓ to protect elderly chimps. ÒYou need to
realize that we have close to 200 chimpanzees, the majority
of whom are geriatric — they came to us geriatric — and
theyÕve done just fine,Ó she said.