The Six Main U.S. Chimpanzee Research Facilities*
Alamogordo Primate Facility, NM
Affiliated: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Charles River Laboratories
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 231
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, TX
Affiliated: University of Texas
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 168
New Iberia Research Center, LA
Affiliated: University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 325
Primate Foundation of Arizona, AZ
Affiliated: Subcontractor to M.D. Anderson/
University of Texas
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 21
Southwest National Primate Research Center, TX
Affiliated: Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 166
Yerkes National Primate Research Center, GA
Affiliated: Emory University
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 98
* Notes: Biomedical research does not occur at the actual facility of the Primate Foundation of Arizona and Alamogordo Primate Facility which are holding facilities. (Source: The Round-Up: A publication of the Southwest National Primate Research Center, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2005; retrieved on August 28, 2005. Primate Training at SNPRC)
** In 2006, PFA announced that it will be closing in 2010, and has transferred ownership of its animals to the federal government. All the chimpanzees at the facility will be sent to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center instead of sanctuary.
Other Federal Facilities with Chimpanzees in the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 6
Food & Drug Administration
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 11
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 400-500 (includes the chimpanzees at Alamogordo)
Other Facilities with Chimpanzees in the U.S.
BIOQUAL, Inc.
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 30
Language Research Center
Affiliated: Georgia State University
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 4
To see the names and ages of chimpanzees held in labs today, view each lab profile listed in the yellow box to the right, and click on the WHO’S THERE? chart on each lab page.
Take Action: help Project R&R obtain more information by participating in our WHO’S THERE? campaign.
The U.S. laboratories profiled in this section are divided into three categories:
- The six major research labs housing the majority of chimpanzees
- Other federally-owned facilities with chimpanzees
- Other facilities that house smaller numbers of chimpanzees
This section does not address any other types of facilities housing captive chimpanzees (i.e. entertainment, pets, zoos), nor can it account for all of the chimpanzees in all private labs, since those facilities are not required to divulge such information.
To learn more about the difficulty of obtaining information on chimpanzees kept in laboratories and the conditions in which they live and are used, see Uncovering the Truth.
Each lab profile offers available detailed information including:
- History and profile*
- Information on how the chimpanzees are used
- Types of research conducted
- Federal funding
- Attempts to secure U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection reports to ascertain Animal Welfare Act (AWA) compliance
- Attempts to secure information on which chimpanzees reside, have been transferred in or out, or have died there
*Two of the labs – Yerkes National Primate Research Center (Yerkes) and Southwest National Primate Research Center (Southwest) - are part of the National Primate Research Center system established by the federal government in 1960. Of the eight National Primate Research Centers, Yerkes and Southwest are the only labs that use or house chimpanzees in addition to other primates.
Whenever new information is available, Project R&R will edit/augment these summaries. If you have additional information on any of these laboratories, please contact us.
Sources
The chimpanzee numbers provided in the linked pages are based on documents received from NIH through FOIA requests, and personal correspondence with L. Gruen and the HSUS.
Last updated: April 2009
