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Programs & CampaignsNEAVS Joins in Efforts of LPAG to Make Research Facilities Account for the Condition of Chimpanzees Currently Held CaptiveHonor World Week for Animals In Laboratories: HIV-Infected Laboratory Chimpanzees Need LettersBoston, MA (26 April 2002) - Last year, the Laboratory Primate Advocacy Group (LPAG) began a campaign to learn more about the estimated 200 chimpanzees experimentally infected with HIV who are currently living in laboratories around the United States. The details of the health status and living conditions of these research subjects in the US remain largely unknown.
Considered a public health risk by institutions that have apparently forgotten how HIV is transmitted, 'infectious' chimpanzees are often isolated from the world in biocontainment facilities, forced to live alone, or at best in tiny social groups. Many are unable to go outside, breathe fresh air, or feel the sunshine on their faces. The intelligence of these individuals is not celebrated in books or marveled at in television documentaries; their names, faces, personalities, and suffering go unrecognized by the general public. Since our campaign began in February of last year, letters and postcards requesting information on HIV project chimpanzees have been sent to the laboratories known to hold them (see below). Despite the fact that the experiments conducted on chimpanzees are largely funded by federal dollars, the labs have no obligation to respond to public inquiries, and direct requests for information have been ignored. The lone response to LPAG came from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, which holds eight HIV+ chimpanzees, six males and two females. The information we were given was limited, and we were not provided with names of the chimpanzees; however, thanks to the efforts of SEEC (www.seec.net), we were able to determine the names of 5 of them. Leo is a 27 year old male who was infected with HIV when he was 14 years old. It is not known where he was born or how he was raised. LPAG speculates that perhaps he, like many other chimpanzees in biomedical research, started his life in a circus or as a pet. This may also be true for Bruce, whose place of birth and rearing history is also unknown. Also 27, Bruce was infected with HIV when he was merely 7 yrs old. Four of the chimpanzees were born in New Mexico; it is unknown whether any of them were raised by their mothers or taken from them and raised by humans. Happy, who is 25, was infected at the age of 6, an age when most young chimps have just been weaned from their mothers but are still dependent on them for protection, companionship, and care. Joyce, 24, was also injected with HIV when only 6 years old. Brent, nearly 27, has been HIV+ for the past 12 years. A male whose name is unknown, #4347, had his 21st birthday in April, and was infected with HIV just before his 9th birthday. The last two HIV+ chimpanzees, # 4749 and #4750, were born at MD Anderson Cancer Center and share the same birthday. Perhaps they are twins, perhaps they happened to be born the same day to different mothers. They were nursery reared, and at the age of 6, the humans who #4750 saw as his parents and his family infected him with HIV. A year later, #4749 was also infected. Both males are now 18 years old. MD Anderson did not describe the living conditions of the chimpanzees in their response to our request for information. We do not know whether they are forced to stay indoors, whether they have bedding to sleep on or hard concrete, or how big their cages are. Although the lab did not provide precise enrichment records, a description of various enrichment items and tasks was offered. Enrichment includes toys, destructible items, browse, food puzzles, television, and behavioral training. MD Anderson stated that the chimps are socially housed "when permitted by experimental background." It seems that experiments on these chimpanzees continues, and individuals undergoing at least some experimentation are forced to live alone, away from their cagemates. The nature and purpose of the experiments are not known. MD Anderson indicated that none of its HIV-infected chimpanzees has had significant health problems. However, at least one individual's psychological and emotional trauma manifested itself in a "self-directed abnormal behavior" which required psychochemical medication for treatment. The only other HIV+ chimpanzees for whom we have information are the ten remaining individuals at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center. The story of Jerom Chimpanzee, was witnessed and has been shared by Buster, 22, Nathan, 22, Arctica, 23, Joye, 23, Betsie, 22, Jonah, 20, Marc, 20, Roberta, 21, Tika, 23, and Hallie, 22. None of them has been outside for well over a decade. Buster and Nathan live alone, without the comfort of a social companion. Their world is dull, damp, and gray. They, like all chimpanzees in biomedical research, deserve the promise of a better future. During this World Week for Animals in Laboratories (WWAIL), we urge you to:
If you receive any response to your efforts, please share it with LPAG so we can disseminate it to others. LPAG will continue to seek information about these chimpanzees from the laboratories and from the NIH (via the Freedom of Information Act), and share this information as it becomes available. The more people who know about these individuals, and the more people who are moved to contact their Congressmembers, the better the immediate conditions of these inmates, and the sooner they can enjoy a future free from human demands. |
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