Posted on 06/16/2013 7:15:59 PM PDT by presidio9
This past week proved to be an instrumental one for the protection of chimpanzees after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a new rule extending "endangered species" protections to chimpanzees that are also held in captivity.
Nearly half of all the 2,000 chimps in the U.S. that are held captive are then used for research purposes. The new proposed regulation would directly affect researchers as it will make it trickier to use chimpanzees for any type of medical experiments. The proposal is open to public comment for 60 days before it will be voted on.
However, researchers have known that this proposal was a long time coming. In the past decade or so, "there has been a significant shift away from using chimpanzees in research," says Kathleen Conlee, the vice president of animal research issues at the Humane Society of the United States.
Scientists first began running tests and analyzing chimps in the 1920s to gain insights into primate psychology - including, they hoped, the psychology of humans. Chimps share 98 percent of the same DNA as humans which has proved to be an integral part of early research on HIV, as well as to advances in the understanding and treatment of cancer and hepatitis.
As a result of being so close to humans, they have paid a high price by being poked and prodded with needles and electrodes, suffering illnesses with which they were infected. Many have died; others live with post-traumatic stress disorder. In recent years, the number of lab studies involving chimpanzees has dwindled as scientists instead studied genetically altered mice and rats or used new lab techniques.
In a blog post about the proposal, the director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Daniel M. Ashe said "the chimpanzee is said to share 98 percent of our genes," he wrote.
"It is in our nature to protect and conserve this iconic species, and this proposal will help."
Researchers say populations of wild chimpanzees have fallen more than 65 per cent in the last 30 years because of poaching and loss of habitat.
Commie agenda driven science to hurt America.
Pray for America to Wake Up
So stupidly misguided. Sure, a lot of chimps have been killed, and I don’t want to get into the cruelty argument, but the fact that they are useful GUARANTEES their survival. It is the same reason cows are not going away anytime soon.
Render them not useful by law, and then there will be no direct incentive to keep a strong population. That means the entire population will change to zoos (who also will have a harder time maintaining them due to increased regs) and the wild. That will make the population MORE susceptible to extinction, NOT LESS.
This is not science, agenda-driven or any other type. This is anti-science. "Animal rights" activists have been attempting to stop medical research for years; this is a step towards their goal.
I would not miss chimps if they went extinct, though I don’t dislike them enough to advocate for it.
That said, they are deeply miserable in captivity. It’s hard not to sense the evil in the atmosphere when you see the larger primates in conventional zoos.
Medical experiments? Use Catholic children instead! < /monty python>
Protect chimps and kill babies? Somebody’s got their priorities mixed up.
“And all the monkeys aren’t in the zoo...every day you meet quite a few.”
There are plenty of leftist monkeys on planet Earth to keep research labs fully stocked with test subjects in perpetuity.
One of my favorite songs—Bing Crosby at his best.
You have obviously never been to the Congo exhibit at the Bronx Zoo. The gorillas there are clearly quite content in captivity.
That being said, few zoos have the resources to provide such ammenities.
“Master, your Monkey Style is most formidible.”
“This is Ape Style, you ignorant baboon!”
I quite believe you, that’s why I took care to use the term “conventional zoos.”
For what its worth, the gorillas at the Bronx Zoo definitely seem to enjoy interacting with the humans. Part of the genius of the design is that it is the humans that are confined and the gorillas who are free to roam. They are quite aware of this and frequently initiate interation. Particularly with small and well behaved children. I have witnessed this many times. I don't believe that animals, even the highest primates are anything like people. But they are still special.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.