To the delight of animal rights activists, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has decided to remove more than 100 chimpanzees from exposure to invasive research.

The decision is a result of the NIH pulling its funding from the controversial New Iberia Research Center (NIRC), run by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, which has 110 NIH chimps. NIRC was accused last year of using federally owned chimps for breeding, a practice that has been banned since 1995.

Most of the chimps will be moved to the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio. They will still be available for behavioral research, but nothing invasive in nature.

Ten primates will be relocated to Chimp Haven, a federally-funded sanctuary in Keithsville, Louisiana, that cares for chimpanzees that who have been used for medical research or in the entertainment industry or are no longer wanted as pets.

NIH-supported research centers will still have access to another 300 chimpanzees for invasive research even though the Institute of Medicine concluded nine months ago that most invasive chimpanzee research was scientifically unnecessary.

Even the NIRC will continue to engage in primate research for private industry clients and will continue to house 6,000 non-human primates.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

To Learn More:

NIH Retires Research Chimps At Troubled Facility (by Meredith Wadman, Nature)

Leading U.S. Primate Lab Accused Of Illegal Chimp Breeding (by Brandon Keim, Wired)

Most Chimpanzee Research No Longer Necessary  (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)