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US government rethinks how to retire research chimps

A new working group will develop guidelines for determining whether moving the primates to sanctuaries is harmful to their health.
  1. Sara Reardon
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The research chimpanzees owned or supported by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) are ready to retire — but nearly 300 are still stuck in 3 US research facilities, awaiting spots at the country’s only federally funded sanctuary. Moving has proved too much for some of the chimps that have already been relocated, most of which were elderly or had chronic diseases. And in the wake of multiple deaths of sanctuary newcomers between 2015 and 2016, the agency is now rethinking how it assesses the primates’ fitness for travel.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-01324-7

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 31 January 2018: This story initially said that the institute co-directed by William Hopkins was the Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary. It is the Ape Cognition and Conservation Initiative.

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