Main U.S. Chimpanzee Research Facilities
Alamogordo Primate Facility, NM *
Affiliated: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Charles River Laboratories
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 215 (190 on site)
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, TX
Affiliated: University of Texas
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 185
New Iberia Research Center, LA
Affiliated: University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 361
Primate Foundation of Arizona, AZ **
Affiliated: Subcontractor to M.D. Anderson/
University of Texas
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 0
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: 96
* Invasive biomedical research does not occur on site at the Alamogordo Primate Facility. It is only a holding facility.
** In 2006, PFA announced that it had transferred ownership of its animals to the federal government and would close in 2010. All the chimpanzees at the facility have been 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: 0 (prev. 8)
Food & Drug Administration
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 0 (prev. 11)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Approx. # of Chimpanzees: 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:
- 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 through FOIA requests and personal correspondence with L. Gruen, BIOQUAL, and the HSUS.
Last updated: May 2010
