Last N.I.H. Chimps to Move From New Mexico Facility
The New York Times
The retired research chimpanzees, which had previously been deemed too frail to move, will be relocated to a Louisiana sanctuary.
Nearly two dozen government-owned chimpanzees, which have been living in an isolated desert facility since being retired from research, will be transferred to a sanctuary in Louisiana, officials from the National Institutes of Health said in an interview on Thursday.
For years, chimpanzee experts and some American lawmakers have urged the agency to relocate the chimps, which reside at the Alamogordo Primate Facility in New Mexico. In 2021, several animal welfare groups sued the N.I.H., arguing that it had violated federal law by refusing to move the animals.
The N.I.H. had previously concluded that the chimps were too sick or frail to be moved. The agency’s assessment of the chimps’ health has not changed, and relocating the animals is a risk, officials said.
But the agency has become concerned that it might soon face a staffing shortage at the remote New Mexico facility, making it impossible to secure the chimps’ long-term future.
“We didn’t come to this decision lightly,” said Tara Schwetz, the deputy director for program coordination, planning and strategic initiatives at the N.I.H. “If we felt more confident that we could guarantee their continuity of care, I don’t believe we would be making this decision.”
As of Oct. 1, 23 chimpanzees, ages 34 to 62, remained at Alamogordo. They will be moved to a facility in Louisiana called Chimp Haven, which sits on 200 forested acres and serves as the national chimpanzee sanctuary.
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