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posted by on Friday March 10 2017, @01:56PM   Printer-friendly
from the they're-not-threatened-while-in-the-cage dept.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is considering repealing a rule that exempts captive members of 11 threatened primate species from protection under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). If the agency approves a repeal, the captive animals would be designated as threatened, like their wild counterparts, and researchers would need to apply for permits for experiments. To be approved, studies would have to be aimed at species survival and recovery.

[...] Writing to PETA on 1 March, FWS promised to "consider your petition request promptly," and assess whether ESA protection is warranted for each species. There is precedent indicating that the agency might agree with PETA. In 2015, it designated captive chimpanzees as endangered, like their wild counterparts. In doing so, it wrote that its reading of the ESA indicated that "Congress did not intend for captive specimens of wildlife to be subject to separate legal status on the basis of their captive state."

PETA's Goodman says a listing change would allow animal rights activists to better track—and challenge—research involving captive Japanese macaques. When a researcher applies for a permit to conduct an experiment on a species listed under ESA, the application is published in the Federal Register and open to public comment. That means, says Goodman, "We have the opportunity to stop experiments before they happen. And we have more information as to what the animals are actually being used for, how invasive the experiments are."

The Japanese macaques, also known as snow monkeys, have been housed at the Oregon center, part of Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), since 1965. The troop has provided animal models for multiple sclerosis and for an inherited form of age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of human blindness. Ongoing work studies the effects on offspring when pregnant dams are fed a high-fat diet. Several years ago, some males were castrated and received hormone replacement to study the effect of androgens on neurons thought to motivate aggressive behavior. Females with their ovaries removed have been used to study the effects of hormone replacement therapy on stress and anxiety, with potential applications to mood and stress in menopausal women.

[...] FWS designated the wild Japanese macaque as threatened in 1976, because the Japanese forests needed for its survival had been heavily logged.

Note: PETA = People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Wikipedia page)

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/us-considers-designating-300-primates-oregon-research-center-threatened

Related:
Ebola Vaccine for Great Apes Hindered by Chimpanzee Research Restrictions


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Dunbal on Friday March 10 2017, @03:27PM (3 children)

    by Dunbal (3515) on Friday March 10 2017, @03:27PM (#477373)

    Research should be conducted members instead. Then we can just throw them in the freezer like they do to the animals people bring them to be rescued.

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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 10 2017, @07:36PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 10 2017, @07:36PM (#477484)

    PETA should be renamed "The Jelly Spine Group".

    It is sometimes necessary to conduct research on animals. But better animals than humans (as it is today).

    How many animals are killed or otherwise harmed in experiments per year?

    Now compare that to the number of humans murdered in the name of democracy and freedom every year by the same people who are calling for saving animals (hint: they belong to secret organizations calling for One-World Government and inter-racial and inter-religion global wars).

    Some misguided people need to correct their perception of what is.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 10 2017, @08:22PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 10 2017, @08:22PM (#477506)

      Now compare that to the number of humans murdered in the name of democracy and freedom every year

      Far less than those who are killed in the name of allah

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 10 2017, @10:46PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 10 2017, @10:46PM (#477571)

        Evidence please.

        Or is the evidence similar to the evidence for the holohoax money-making machine?

        Those who supposedly kill in the name of Allah or some other deity are in fact, being funded and supported by the jews. Fact.