Freed lab chimps to get own islands off Africa

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CALL OF THE WILD

 

 

Freed lab chimps to get own islands off Africa

 

 

 

 

 

Six remote African islands are to be turned into sanctuaries for chimpanzees,

released from research laboratories after years of experimentation.

The islands, off the coast of Liberia, have been taken over by the New York

Blood Centre (NYBC) to release more than 70 animals used in its hepatitis

research programmes. Campaigners hope the example might inspire the creation of

other sanctuaries to house retired research animals, especially great apes. The

centre is one of many research institutes to abandon experiments on chimpanzees

because it now considers such work unacceptable on ethical and welfare grounds.

The decision to set up sanctuaries for the animals to live out their lives in

semi-natural peace has been widely praised by campaigners. The African

sanctuaries are initially being set up for the exclusive use of animals released

from NYBC’s Vilab facility at Robertsfield, Liberia.

If they succeed they could become a model for similar releases of animals

from zoos and laboratories. The Vilab centre, set up in the 1970s, made many

breakthroughs in blood research, including the development of vaccines to

prevent the spread of hepatitis and AIDS viruses.

“Vilab did a great job for a long time but there are new methods for doing

this kind of research so we don’t need to use chimpanzees,” said Betsy Brotman,

its director. “Research chimpanzees generally receive little reward for the

knowledge we gain.”

“Once their work is over their futures are grim. They often live out the rest

of their lives, which last an average of 50 years, in cramped cages or

laboratories.”

Brotman originally planned to release the animals into national parks in

Liberia but abandoned the idea when he realised that the chimps associate humans

with food and so might pose a risk to tourists and villagers. SUNDAY TIMES