Central Texas Research Chimps Face Uncertain Future

Tucked into the semi-wilderness a few miles north of this Central Texas town, within spitting distance of a federal prison, Nahja, a 25-year old chimpanzee at the Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research, wraps a handful of woolly nesting material around her head into something that resembles a shawl.


When a handler calls her name, Nahja stretches out her massive hands and catches an orange — this morning’s treat — tossed from the observation balcony overlooking the 75-foot wide corral where she and the rest of her social group live. At the 381-acre facility, nearly a dozen groups of 9 to 12 chimpanzees wait for their oranges atop raised wooden platforms in the separated corrals that house the research animals.

Fruit treats, frequent veterinary checkups, behavioral experiments in which the animals can exchange tokens with scientists for a reward — this is the life of the research chimpanzees who live behind a 16-foot protective fence. But soon that could change.

Last month, the National Institutes of Health announced they would no longer support biomedical research on chimpanzees and that all federally owned chimps would be retired to sanctuaries. Animal rights advocates hailed the move, but it’s left behind feelings of anxiety at the Keeling Center, Texas’ major chimpanzee research facility and one of the largest in the country.

http://www.sacurrent.com/Blogs/archives/2015/12/21/central-texas-research-chimps-face-uncertain-future