A plan to establish the largest ape breeding facility in the US, which would allow 30,000 macaques to live inside equipped warehouses Georgiais facing a furious backlash from animal rights groups and some local residents.
The sprawling 200-hectare complex will house an unusually large number of monkeys, which will then be sent to universities and pharmaceutical companies for medical research. Over the next 20 years, the facility will assemble a mega-troop of about 30,000 long-tailed macaques, a species native to Southeast Asia, into large shed-like structures in Bainbridge, Georgia, which has a human population of just 14,000. .
Safer Human Medicine, the company behind the new $396 million monkey metropolis, said the monkeys will be kept in highly secure conditions, will not spread disease in the local area and will be fed fresh local produce.
“We all depend on these critical primates to save the lives of our loved ones and ourselves,” the company said in an open letter to residents who were shown a mock-up of monkeys joyfully twirling toys in a light, apartment-like room.
But the plan faces fierce opposition, with some Bainbridge residents calling on local authorities to block construction of the proposed primate house. “They’re an invasive species and 30,000 of them, we’ll just be overrun with monkeys,” claimed Ted Lee, a local man. “I don’t think anyone would want 30,000 monkeys next door,” added David Barber, who would live just 400 feet from the new facility.
Animal rights groups are also calling for the plan to be scrapped, arguing that breeding primates for medical testing is cruel and offers little benefit in coming up with new treatments for humans because of differences between the species.
“This move not only further threatens the survival of these primates in the wild, it perpetuates a cycle that we must break away from,” said Kathleen Conlee, vice president of animal research issues for the Humane Society. “We call on local officials to reject the proposal to build this facility and the federal government to prioritize science that will ultimately save both human and animal lives.”
The vast majority of medical tests on animals involve rodents, with only about 1% requiring primates, but the practice of conducting experiments on people’s closest relatives has long been controversial. The National Institutes of Health said in 2015 it will no longer support biomedical research on chimpanzees and welfare groups have called for a broader ban along with a switch to alternative methods, such as the use of new technology such as artificial intelligence.
About 70,000 monkeys a year are still used across the US in tests for treatments for infectious diseases, aging and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s, with researchers warning which is the USA run out on available primates for tests. Safer Human Medicine said its planned monkey mini-city will help alleviate this, while also creating more than 260 local jobs to care for the new residents, who will not be taken from the wild. The monkeys weigh about 5 to 7 pounds and, as their name suggests, have very long tails.
“There can often be a lot of misinformation surrounding animal research,” said a spokesperson for Safer Human Medicine. “Our goal is to provide the Bainbridge community with the facts and accurate information about our purpose and the new facility’s operations. We continue to believe that Bainbridge is the right place for this project and we plan to move forward with the facility’s plans based on the approvals and support we received at the beginning of the project.”
The facility initially secured tax breaks before construction, although these have now been withdrawn ahead of a decision by local authorities on whether to allow the project. Safer Human Medicine said it would continue with the monkey containment plan even without the tax breaks. Bainbridge Mayor Edward Reynolds has been contacted for comment.
