Remaining research chimps may be nearing a true sanctuary
The 26 remaining former research chimpanzees at Alamogordo Primate Facility (APF), located on Holloman Air Force Base, are in the spotlight, and the news is encouraging.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently dropped their appeal of the lawsuit brought by Animal Protection New Mexico, along with the Humane Society of the United States.
Clearing any legal hurdle in pursuit of getting these chimps into sanctuary is unquestionably good news. What hasn’t happened yet, however, is the slam dunk, final word that means movement there is imminent.
Chimp advocates are hanging their hope for that slam dunk on the words of the new NIH director, Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, who recently said, “I am committed to carrying out the goals of the CHIMP Act to ensure that these chimpanzees get the sanctuary and care they deserve.”
Her statement is key because, while the recent legal victory is significant, the district judge in the case could not compel NIH to move the chimps by directive, nor demand a timeline.
So, what does the future hold now for the 26 remaining chimps?
Considering the appeal dismissal, the new NIH leader’s own powerful words, the efforts of our New Mexico congressional delegation — along with Louisiana Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy — and the financial and humane forces seemingly coalescing, an optimist might view the possibilities for sanctuary as, “on the horizon.”
That horizon, be it near or still very far however, now rests on the ability of Chimp Haven in Keithville, Louisiana, to accommodate more primates. Currently at maximum capacity but very willing to take in more, Chimp Haven is also the federal chimpanzee sanctuary facility, and is restricted in its ability to expand due to its funding scheme. Currently, NIH pays for 75% of Chimp Haven’s budget, but this leaves the facility having to raise private funds for crucial infrastructure needs. This is unacceptable when the federal government created the need for sanctuary space in the first place. Right now, chimp housing and other buildings used by veterinary and support staff have no air conditioning in one of the most humid climates in the country.
Animal Protection New Mexico is calling on the NIH and Congress to immediately increase funding for Chimp Haven, and thereby fulfill its statutory obligation to ensure every deserving chimp experiences sanctuary there, as soon as possible.
Creating the conditions to move the chimps is not just a moral imperative. For taxpayers, the math is easy. By NIH’s own accounting, the cost of chimp care at Chimp Haven is less than half the cost for them to live at APF. Additionally, at Chimp Haven chimps live in more natural settings in mixedsex groups like they would in the wild, and receive top-notch enrichment not available at APF.
On Jan. 19, APNM commissioned a statewide poll to determine where New Mexicans stood on this issue. When asked if they strongly or somewhat agreed that the NIH, “should release all remaining chimpanzees in Alamogordo to the Chimp Haven sanctuary,” 79% of New Mexicans said yes.
When asked if Congress, “should put more pressure on NIH to release all remaining chimpanzees in Alamogordo to the Chimp Haven sanctuary,” 75% agreed. All five members of the New Mexico congressional delegation support moving the chimps to sanctuary, and each in their own way have recently used that pressure.
New Mexicans get this issue because we’ve lived with it since the 1950s, when 65 infant chimps were captured in West Africa and brought to Holloman for training programs in support of Project Mercury. Famous chimps, Ham and Enos, were used in sub-orbital space flight in 1961.
NIH’s decision to drop the appeal is encouraging and seems to represent a new vision and Dr. Bertagnolli’s inspired leadership. New Mexicans are counting on her to instruct her agency to immediately implement plans to move the surviving APF chimps who have been promised sanctuary. They deserve to follow in the path of many other sick and elderly chimps who have been successfully transported to Chimp Haven without incident.
There, at the government’s official sanctuary, they will receive top quality veterinary care and have the best chance at thriving and living their best “chimp lives.”
Focusing on a far horizon can be challenging, but here we are, over six decades since Ham was in the headlines. We, as humans, have moved on from those times and ways. These research chimpanzees have, so far, not had a chance to move on. Now would be a perfect time to honor their involuntary service with true sanctuary.