Mesa, Arizona

Approximate number of chimpanzees: 0

Private facility that received federal funding for chimpanzee research

History & Profile

The Primate Foundation of Arizona (PFA) describes itself as “a chimpanzee breeding colony and behavioral research center” that “houses chimpanzees in large, enriched outdoor enclosures that provide a variety of cage furnishings to the chimpanzees.” (1) Established in 1970, PFA became part of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center’s Chimpanzee Biomedical Research Resource (CBRR) in 2000. The CBRR includes chimpanzees housed at both the Michale E. Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research (KCCMR) and the PFA. PFA acts as a subcontractor to KCCMR. Prior to 2000, PFA was supported by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) in a separate agreement. (2) In 2006, PFA announced that it would be transferring ownership of its chimpanzees to the federal government and is now sending all of its chimpanzees to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas by 2010.

Current Status

• September 18, 2006: Jo Fritz, Director of the Primate Foundation of Arizona, announced that “The Primate Foundation of Arizona (PFA) … has transferred ownership of its animals to the federal government and will be closing in 2010. Over the next four years, the animals will be moved to University of Texas (UT) M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Bastrop, Texas, which has capacity for all of PFA’s animals in its facility. Combining the PFA colony with UT’s existing chimpanzees will improve the efficiency of managing both populations. In addition to reducing the costs of animal care, the move will make the entire population more readily accessible to researchers.” Jo Fritz signed the Animal Transfer Agreement on behalf of PFA on August 28, 2006; M.D. Anderson signed the document on September 7, 2006. In addition, Barbara Alving, M.D. signed on behalf of the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
• Oct 11, 2006: NEAVS/Project R&R sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to NCRR/NIH requesting information about contracts that existed between PFA, NCRR, and M.D. Anderson regarding the transfer of ownership of the PFA chimps to NIH and their physical transfer to M.D. Anderson.
• October 26, 2006: The NIH replied that they were querying the NCRR Division of Comparative Medicine to find documents responsive to our request.
• November 28, 2006: The NIH sent a final letter to NEAVS/Project R&R that included the Animal Transfer Agreement and several email correspondences concerning the transfer dated August 2006. NCRR Division of Comparative Medicine stated that they “searched their files, and no [other] records responsive to [our] request were located.”
• March 1, 2007: Dr. Theodora Capaldo on behalf of NEAVS/Project R&R, along with Dr. Jane Goodall on behalf of the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) and Dr. Andrew Rowan on behalf The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), sent a letter to NIH representing 10+ million members expressing concern about the use of chimpanzees in research and testing. Because of this concern, NEAVS/Project R&R, JGI, and HSUS requested a meeting with NIH, PFA, and M.D. Anderson to discuss the transfer plan and the possibility of NCRR making arrangements to send the remaining 54 chimpanzees from PFA to permanent sanctuary. (In the letter, NEAVS/Project R&R, HSUS, and JGI noted that 15 of the 69 PFA chimpanzees had already been transferred to M.D. Anderson.)
• March 15, 2007: NEAVS/Project R&R received a letter back from NIH that reiterated their policies concerning retirement. The requested meeting was not addressed.
• February 13, 2008: NEAVS/Project R&R sent a FOIA request to NIH requesting verification that the 18 scheduled transfers did in fact happen in 2007 and that the 2008-2010 transfer dates will remain as planned. Further, the FOIA requested any and all information on any deaths of any of the PFA chimpanzees, either while at PFA or after transfer to M.D. Anderson. The remaining transfers are scheduled as follows:
  2008: 19 chimpanzees
  2009: 15 chimpanzees
  2010: 17 chimpanzees
• April 3, 2008: The NIH sent a final letter to NEAVS/Project R&R that included several pages of correspondence between NIH and PFA concerning the process and transfer of PFA’s chimpanzees to NIH.
  Information from these documents included a statement from PFA saying that as of June 30, 2007, PFA would no longer be considered a research institution. In addition, all PFA chimpanzees are expected to be transferred to M.D. Anderson by the end of October 2009. Currently, the NCRR website no longer has PFA listed under their “Chimpanzee Research Resources” – only the University of Texas/M.D. Anderson is listed. (3) The FOIA documents also revealed that the three remaining chimpanzees designated for retirement at Chimp Haven (of the original four, one recently died at PFA) were being sent to M.D. Anderson instead.
• November 21, 2008: FOIA documents received from the NIH for a NEAVS/Project R&R request concerning the number of chimpanzees at M.D. Anderson revealed that 52 chimpanzees had already been transferred to M.D. Anderson.

Chimpanzee Use

According to the Primate Info Net, the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s Library and Information Service, PFA’s research programs consist of, “Applied behavioral research with the goal of improving captive management. Includes: behavior and social skill development, environmental enrichment and well-being, reproduction: cycling, receptivity and behavior, physical growth and development.” (4)

PFA is also known for having “the only experimentally naïve colony of chimpanzees available for biomedical research” in the U.S. (5)

Research Profile

In the past, the NCRR website listed that PFA’s objectives included ensuring that “behaviorally normal and physically healthy chimpanzees are available for biomedical research and future breeding.” PFA claims that at their facility, chimpanzees are used only for  observational studies and research into the care and management of captive chimpanzee populations. However, through their cooperative agreement with M.D. Anderson, chimpanzees from PFA are transferred to M.D. Anderson and used for biomedical research at the TX facility when requested. (6)

2007 Research Projects

Videan, E. N., J. Fritz, and J. Murphy. 2007. Effects of Aging on Hematology and Serum Clinical Chemistry in Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). American Journal of Primatology 70:1-12.

• The research was done on 49 adult chimpanzees housed at PFA, and was part of a larger grant awarded to the University of TX. The study “documented age-related changes” in chimpanzees “as a comparative viewpoint with human and macaque aging.” It concluded that male chimpanzees (beginning around 25-30 years old) showed “a significant age-related increase in anemia risk”, and both male and female chimpanzees (females beginning around 30-35 years old) showed a significant decrease in kidney and liver function.  It recommended “amending chimpanzee age classes” for males to 25 years or older and for females to 30 years or older as “aged.”

Videan, E.N., C.B. Heward, J. Fritz, J. Murphy, C. Cortez, and Y. Su. 2007. Relationship between sunlight exposure, housing condition, and serum vitamin D and related physiologic biomarker levels in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Comp Med. 57(4): 402-6, Aug. Primate Foundation of Arizona, Mesa, AZ, USA.

• The study involved 18 female and 12 male chimpanzees as they cycled between indoor-only and indoor-outdoor enclosures. The study concluded that “adult captive chimpanzees experience vitamin D deficiency when housed without regular access to unfiltered sunlight….”

Financials/Grants

Although PFA claims to be a private facility, it still receives federal support and funding for its chimpanzees. For example, an NIH grant awarded to M.D. Anderson in 2000 (Grant 5U42RR015090, Chimpanzee Biomedical Research Resource), provided $19.5 million for a five-year period for a collaborative agreement between PFA and M.D. Anderson. (7) Since 2000, M.D. Anderson has received almost $30 million for this specific grant. (8).

Address

Jo Fritz, Director
P.O. Box 20027, Mesa, AZ 85277-0027
URL: No website
To learn more about transfers of new chimpanzees to MD Anderson from the Primate Foundation of Arizona click here.

Sources

(1) www.awionline.org/Lab_animals/biblio/jo-5.htm (Excerpted from article by S. Howell, E. Mittra, J. Fritz, J. Baron, “The Provision of Cage Furnishings As Environmental Enrichment at the Primate Foundation of Arizona” on a project supported by NIH, NCRR Grant No. 2U42 RRO 3602-11.)

(2) M.D. Anderson-related FOIA documents; received from NIH on February, 17, 2009

(3) http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/comparative_medicine/resource_directory/primates.asp#utex

(4) http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/idp/idp/entry/340

(5) M.D. Anderson-related FOIA documents; received from NIH on February, 17, 2009

(6) M.D. Anderson-related FOIA documents; received from NIH on February, 17, 2009

(7) NIH Renews Grant for Bastrop Chimpanzee Facility

(8) http://taggs.hhs.gov/

Last updated: November 2009