The 1980’s brought on a flurry of chimpanzee breeding for research on HIV/AIDS. Since chimps are so genetically similar to human beings, it was thought they would be the best models for the disease. However, this assumption turned out to be plain wrong. Despite the similarities, there are still very significant differences in disease immunity between chimpanzees and humans. Only one chimpanzee, infected with multiple strains of HIV, progressed to develop full-blown AIDS.
2005: Decade-Old Breeding Moratorium Extended
Because of their failure as a model for HIV/AIDS, the government was left with a “surplus” of chimpanzees for which they were financially responsible. As a result, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) decided to institute a moratorium on the breeding of chimpanzees in 1995.
In 2005, the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) extended the 10-year breeding moratorium on federally owned or supported chimpanzees used for research purposes for two additional years. NCRR is a division of NIH that oversees the approximately 675 federally-owned or supported chimpanzees currently being used or held for biomedical research at nine laboratories throughout the United States or housed at the national chimpanzee sanctuary system.
While the extension was not a prohibition on chimpanzee research, it did represent an important move in the right direction.
The 2005 NCRR decision was based on an earlier decision of the National Advisory Research Resources Council (NARRC), which advised the NCRR to extend the current moratorium on breeding of federally-owned or supported chimpanzees until the end of 2007. The council cited the need for additional assessment of the current chimpanzee colony, the decreasing demand for chimps in research and the high cost of housing as the primary reasons for their decision.
2007: Government Ends Breeding
Then, on May 22, 2007, thanks in part to emails and letters from animal advocates, the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) announced that "...after careful review of existing chimpanzee resources, NCRR has determined that it does not have the financial resources to support the breeding of chimpanzees that are owned or supported by NCRR.” The decision came on the heels of efforts by The Humane Society of the United States to permanently end the breeding of chimpanzees for research.
According to Kathleen Conlee, director of program management for animal research issues for The HSUS, “This decision is a huge step towards a day when chimpanzees are no longer used in invasive biomedical research and testing. This will spare some chimpanzees a life of up to 60 years in a laboratory. While it does not help chimpanzees already living in laboratories, it is a monumental decision.”
Final Destination: Private Laboratories or Sanctuaries?
It is important to celebrate this victory, but the fight is not over. Some who have been advocating for chimpanzee breeding are urging the government to hand the federally owned chimpanzees over to the laboratories, where they would be privately owned, along with an endowment of taxpayer money.
The HSUS works to ensure that that does not happen and that the government honors its commitment of lifetime care to those chimpanzees it is responsible for.
Updated Oct. 9, 2007
