September 29, 2009
A History of Chimpanzee Use in Research
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000
1999-1990 1989-1980 1979-1970 1969-1960 1959-1920
December 4 The lead sponsors of the Great Ape Protection Act (H.R. 1326) send a letter on behalf of the bill’s 109 cosponsors to House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Ca., and House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr., D-N.J. urging a hearing for the bill. Read more »
November 16 The Humane Society of the United States files a shareholder resolution with Abbott Laboratories asking the company to produce a schedule for phasing out the use of chimpanzees in invasive research and to publish the schedule online. Read more »
November 9 A review—initiated by The Humane Society of the United States—of hepatitis C research using chimpanzees, appears in the online edition of the Journal of Medical Primatology. The publication identifies many scientific problems with hepatitis C studies using chimpanzees, including a lack of biological relevance, questions regarding the statistical validity, incompleteness in the reporting of methods and experimental data, and welfare concerns. Read more »
October 28 An exhibit featuring poignant images and video footage of chimpanzees living in research laboratories juxtaposed with images of chimpanzees living in sanctuaries is put on display at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. Read more »
September 10 World renowned primatologist, Jane Goodall, visits committee chairman, Henry Waxman (D-Ca.) on Capitol Hill to express her support for the passage of the Great Ape Protection Act (H.R. 1326).
June 25 A Congressional briefing is hosted by Representative Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., and The Humane Society of the United States to inform members of Congress and their staff about the suffering of chimpanzees in labs and the urgent need to address this tragic situation by supporting the Great Ape Protection Act (H.R. 1326). At the time of the briefing, there are 58 cosponsors—almost double the total number of cosponsors of the original bill (HR 5852).
April 29 The Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare under National Institutes of Health—which is responsible for monitoring compliance with the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals at PHS-funded institutions—requests extensive information from New Iberia Research Center regarding its practices based on a site visit as well as the evidence from the HSUS undercover investigation and a site visit.
March 27 The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) cites New Iberia Research Centerfor six critical violations of the Animal Welfare Act—several of which pertained to those documented during the HSUS’s undercover investigation.
March 5 The Great Ape Protection Act (HR 1326) is reintroduced in the House by U.S. Reps. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., David Reichert, R-Wash., Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md along with a bipartisan group of original cosponsors. The bill calls for a phase out of invasive research on chimpanzees and the retirement of approximately 500 government-owned chimpanzees. It also prohibits the breeding of chimpanzees for invasive research.
March 4 The Humane Society of the United States releases the results of a 9-month, undercover investigation at the world’s largest chimpanzee laboratory, the New Iberia Research Center in Louisiana. The disturbing findings include over 100 alleged Animal Welfare Act violations involving chimpanzees which were reported to the United States Department of Agriculture. Read more »
February An appeals court in Texas rules that the chimpanzees from Ohio State University will remain at the Chimp Haven sanctuary and will not be returned to the Primarily Primates sanctuary.
November 10 Final standards of care are implemented by the National Institutes of Health for chimpanzees in the federal sanctuary system. The standards regulate housing, veterinary care, behavioral management, population management and control, staffing, records, and guidelines for accepting chimps into the system. No other U.S.-based sanctuaries are subject to such legal standards.
August 8 Primatologists and other experts gather at a symposium led by the Humane Society of the U.S. and held at the International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland to discuss the use of great apes for invasive research. The symposium is one of the first ever devoted to the subject of invasive great ape research at this influential conference.
July Chimp Haven is home to 138 chimpanzees.
June 13 Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest in Cle Elum, Wash. accepts its first chimpanzee residents from laboratory in Pennsylvania. The seven chimpanzees were the last remaining in that laboratory.
April 17 The Great Ape Protection Act (H.R. 5852), is introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by a bipartisan team of eight lawmakers led by Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Dave Reichert (R-WA), James R. Langevin (D-RI), and Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD). The bill calls for a phase out of invasive research on chimpanzees and the retirement of approximately 600 government-owned chimpanzees. It also prohibits the breeding of chimpanzees for invasive research.
March 19 Chimp Haven announces it will fight the Texas judge's ruling that the OSU chimpanzees previously transferred to Chimp Haven from Primarily Primates should be returned to Primarily Primates.
February 15 A Texas judge rules that the Ohio State University chimpanzees sent to Chimp Haven from Primarily Primates should be returned to Primarily Primates.
December The CHIMP Act amendments introduced in August 2007 are signed into law by President Bush.
November Chimp Haven welcomes 10 new chimpanzees, bringing the total number of chimpanzees at the sanctuary to 127.
August 1 Two bills, H.R. 2395 and S. 1916, are introduced in the House and Senate. The identical bills are intended to disallow the removal of chimpanzees from the federal sanctuary system for research purposes other than non-invasive behavioral studies.
May 22 The National Center for Research Resource of the National Institutes of Health announces its decision to make the breeding moratorium on federally owned chimpanzees permanent.
December The CHIMP Act amendments introduced in July 2006 pass the House of Representatives, but do not make progress in the Senate before the end of the session.
November 17 Seven chimpanzees formerly used in behavioral research at Ohio State University are brought to Chimp Haven from the Primarily Primates sanctuary after the Texas State Attorney General's office seizes Primarily Primates due to allegations of poor care of the animals and mismanagement of funds.
October Thirteen chimpanzees—11 of whom are older than 40 years old—are brought to Chimp Haven. There is now a total of 77 retired chimpanzees at the sanctuary.
September The Primate Foundation of Arizona announces that it has transferred ownership of its 69 chimpanzees to the federal government and that most of the chimpanzees would be moved to the University of Texas, MD Anderson facility by 2010.
July 13 A bill to amend the CHIMP Act is introduced in the House of Representatives. H.R. 5798 is intended to disallow the removal of chimpanzees from the federal sanctuary system for research purposes other than non-invasive behavioral studies.
February Ohio State University closes its chimpanzee facility and transferred nine chimpanzees to Primarily Primates in Texas. Note: The seven remaining chimpanzees from this group have since been moved to Chimp Haven (two chimpanzees died within six weeks of arrival at Primarily Primates)
October 28 Chimp Haven celebrates its official Grand Opening. There are now 31 chimpanzees already at the facility.
September The Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium publishes the initial sequence of the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) genome.
September The National Advisory Research Resources Council, which advises, the National Center for Research Resource of the NIH, extends the breeding moratorium on chimpanzees until the end of 2007.
April 4 Chimp Haven’s first chimpanzee residents, Rita and Teresa, arrive from The Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research. March -- The Humane Society of the U.S. submits joint comments to the National Institutes of Health regarding the proposed standards of care for chimpanzees in the federally funded sanctuary system in response to a February 2005 Federal Register Notice.
January 11 The National Institutes of Health publishes a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding standards of care for chimpanzees within the national sanctuary system.
May 1 Chimp Haven breaks ground at its Shreveport, La. facility.
September 30 The National Istitues of Health announces the award of a contract to Chimp Haven for the establishment and operation of a chimpanzee sanctuary, as mandated by the CHIMP Act.
April 25 The Humane Society of the U.S. submits written testimony to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, regarding funding for chimpanzee sanctuaries.
January 10 President Bush signs H.R. 3061 into public law, including $5 million towards the construction of the national sanctuary system.
The Coulston Foundation suffers financial collapse.
December 20 The Departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, and related agencies' 2002 Appropriations Act (H.R. 3061) allocated $5 million to began construction on the national chimpanzee sanctuary facilities.
September 28 The National Institutes of Health publishes a Request for Proposal for an entity to operate and maintain the national sanctuary system via the CHIMP Act.
April 20 The Humane Society of the United States submits written testimony to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, regarding funding for chimpanzee sanctuaries.
March 29 The Humane Society of the United States submits testimony to the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education regarding funding for chimpanzee sanctuaries.
The National Institutes of Health stops funding the Coulston Foundation. That same year, The Coulston Foundation transferrs 300 chimpanzees to the Alamogordo Primate Facility to settle violations of the Animal Welfare Act.
December 20 President Clinton signs the CHIMP Act into public law (P.L. 106-551).
December 6 The Senate passes the House version of the CHIMP Act by unanimous vote.
October 24 The House passes the CHIMP Act with amendments that allowed chimpanzees to be returned to research laboratories under certain circumstances.
June 14 S. 2725, the CHIMP Act, is introduced in the U.S. Senate by Robert Smith (R-N.H.) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.).
May 18 The House Committee on Commerce holds a hearing on H.R. 3514. Speakers presenting testimony include the world renowned primatologist, Jane Goodall, Dr. John Strandberg (the National Institutes of Health), Tina Nelson (American Anti-Vivisection Society, representing the National Chimpanzee Research Retirement Task Force), and Dr. Alfred Prince (New York Blood Center).
November 1999 H.R. 3514, the Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance, and Protection (CHIMP) Act is introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. James Greenwood (R-PA). This bill requires the federal government to provide for permanent "retirement" of chimpanzees who are identified as no longer needed for research.
October 1999 The sanctuary Save the Chimps (formerly the Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care) enters into an agreement with the Coulston Foundation after it was granted custody of 21 chimpanzees following a suit against the Air Force.
April 15- A coalition that includes representatives from the research, animal protection, zoo, and sanctuary communities writes a letter addressing the issue of chimpanzee "retirement" and submits it to U.S. Representative Porter and U.S. Senator Specter.
1997 Holloman Air Force Base announces the closure of its chimpanzee facility; 30 chimpanzees are sent to Primarily Primates (a sanctuary in Texas) and the remaining 111 are sent to the Coulston Foundation, despite offers from other sanctuaries to care for them.
1997 The National Research Council publishes Chimpanzees in research: strategies for their ethical care, management and use, which concludes in part that (1) there is a "moral responsibility" for the long-term care of chimpanzees that are used for our benefit in scientific research, (2) there should be a moratorium on further chimpanzee breeding; and (3) euthanasia as a means of general population control is unacceptable.
1995 A moratorium on the breeding of federally-owned chimpanzees is put in place by National Institutes of Health, due to a "surplus" of chimpanzees after the realization that the chimpanzee is a poor model for HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus).
1995 The Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates closes; half of the chimpanzees were sent to sanctuaries and half were sent to the Coulston Foundation, a laboratory in New Mexico.
March 12, 1990 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service up-list wild chimpanzees to an "endangered" status under the Endangered Species Act and captive chimpanzees remained separately listed as "threatened" with a Special Rule.
1986 A large chimpanzee breeding effort is launched for HIV research.
1978 The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service creates a Special Rule for chimpanzees, exempting them from protections afforded by the "threatened" designation under the Endangered Species Act
1976 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designates the chimpanzee as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act.
1975, 1977 The United States restricts and then prohibits importation of chimpanzees caught in the wild under CITES*, with minor exceptions.
January 1961 Ham, a chimpanzee from the Air Force colony, is placed on a ballistic trajectory flight.
1950's The United State's Air Force creates a breeding colony of 65 wild-caught chimpanzees for use in the space program.
1940's Yerkes Primate Research Center shifts their focus to the study of infectious disease.
Early 1920's Robert M. Yerkes establishes a laboratory with two purchased great apes (one chimpanzee and one bonobo—thought to both be chimpanzees at the time) at his rural home; considered the start of chimpanzee research in the United States.
End research on federally owned chimpanzees and retire them to sanctuary Contact Congress