Nature & Environment
Captive Chimps in US Join the List of Endangered Species
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Jun 12, 2013 04:33 AM EDT
Captive chimps in the United States are condemned to a lifetime of torment in laboratories, in the entertainment business and as pets. But this should soon come to a halt, as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is re-evaluating the listing designation for captive chimpanzees. A new proposal announced by the Service highlights the need to classify both wild and captive chimpanzees as endangered.
The new proposal reveals an increasing threat to the species and supports the chimpanzee's status with the existing legal requests, as well as protection for other species. At the moment, only wild chimps are listed as endangered, with captive chimps being listed as threatened.
In order to correct this inconsistency, the Service decided that the ESA should not provide a different legal status to captive and wild chimps.
Apart from this, chimpanzees face a threat from habitat loss, diseases and poaching, which has increased and expanded ever since the wild population was given the legal status of endangered in 1990.
The proposal is in response to a petition that was received in 2010 by the Humane Society of United States including several other conservative groups. Their concern was regarding the biomedical research conducted on chimpanzees and their use in the entertainment industry. The petition emphasiZed the need to list all chimps as endangered.
"Chimpanzees are one of the world's most iconic species because of their connections and similarity to humans," Service Director Dan Ashe said in a press statement. "We all know the important work that British primatologist Jane Goodall has done to understand chimpanzees in the wild and raise worldwide awareness about their plight. Our hope is that this proposal will ignite renewed public interest in the status of chimpanzees in the wild."
Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a U.N. Messenger of Peace, said in a press statement that she was delighted to hear the proposed rule. It is very special news not only for the petitioners but also all chimps.
Once the proposal is confirmed, certain activities are required to have a permit, including import and export of chimps into and out of the U.S. Permits are granted just for scientific purposes.
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First Posted: Jun 12, 2013 04:33 AM EDT
Captive chimps in the United States are condemned to a lifetime of torment in laboratories, in the entertainment business and as pets. But this should soon come to a halt, as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is re-evaluating the listing designation for captive chimpanzees. A new proposal announced by the Service highlights the need to classify both wild and captive chimpanzees as endangered.
The new proposal reveals an increasing threat to the species and supports the chimpanzee's status with the existing legal requests, as well as protection for other species. At the moment, only wild chimps are listed as endangered, with captive chimps being listed as threatened.
In order to correct this inconsistency, the Service decided that the ESA should not provide a different legal status to captive and wild chimps.
Apart from this, chimpanzees face a threat from habitat loss, diseases and poaching, which has increased and expanded ever since the wild population was given the legal status of endangered in 1990.
The proposal is in response to a petition that was received in 2010 by the Humane Society of United States including several other conservative groups. Their concern was regarding the biomedical research conducted on chimpanzees and their use in the entertainment industry. The petition emphasiZed the need to list all chimps as endangered.
"Chimpanzees are one of the world's most iconic species because of their connections and similarity to humans," Service Director Dan Ashe said in a press statement. "We all know the important work that British primatologist Jane Goodall has done to understand chimpanzees in the wild and raise worldwide awareness about their plight. Our hope is that this proposal will ignite renewed public interest in the status of chimpanzees in the wild."
Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a U.N. Messenger of Peace, said in a press statement that she was delighted to hear the proposed rule. It is very special news not only for the petitioners but also all chimps.
Once the proposal is confirmed, certain activities are required to have a permit, including import and export of chimps into and out of the U.S. Permits are granted just for scientific purposes.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone