U.S. gov't declares all chimpanzees "endangered"

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday declared all chimpanzees, both wild and captive, are endangered, a move that will curb the use of these animals in biomedical research, entertainment and the pet trade.

The agency made the announcement in a final rule to classify all chimps as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Previously, it only recognized wild chimps as endangered, yet captive chimps were only listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

"Extending captive chimpanzees the protections afforded (to) their endangered cousins in the wild will ensure humane treatment and restrict commercial activities under the Endangered Species Act," the agency's Director Dan Ashe said in a statement.

Under the final rule, certain activities will be prohibited without a permit, including import and export of chimps into and out of the United States, and any procedure that involves harming, harassing, killing and injuring the animals within the United States, and interstate and foreign commerce.

Permits will be issued only for scientific purposes that benefit the species in the wild, or to enhance the propagation or survival of chimps, including habitat restoration and research on chimps in the wild that contributes to improved management and recovery, it said.

The agency promised to work closely with the biomedical research community to permit biomedical research that must use chimps as research subjects.

The final rule came two years after the U.S. National Institutes of Health decided to phase out the use of the vast majority of chimps in invasive experiments.

"This change shows that many people are finally beginning to understand that it is not appropriate to subject our closest relatives to disrespectful, stressful or harmful procedures, whether as pets, in advertising or other forms of entertainment, or medical research," said Jane Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, one of the organizations that petitioned for the rule change in 2010, in a statement.

Currently, the U.S. is home to about 1,700 captive chimps and more than 700 of them are bred in labs for medical research. In the wild, an estimated 172,000 to 300,000 chimps are still living in African rainforests. Endite