15 Feb
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From: MX%"Marc.Bekoff(a)Colorado.EDU" 14-FEB-2002
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Subj: RE: PLAN TO REAR BABY CHIMPANZEES AS HUMANS DRAWS
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Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 18:06:10 -0700 (MST)
From: BEKOFF MARC <Marc.Bekoff(a)Colorado.EDU>
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Subject: RE: PLAN TO REAR BABY CHIMPANZEES AS HUMANS DRAWS
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>
> > IDA News Release
> > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> > February 13, 2002
> > Contact: Elliot M. Katz, DVM, 415/388-9641 x 25
> > www.idausa.org
> >
> > PLAN TO REAR BABY CHIMPANZEES AS HUMANS DRAWS FIRE:
Despite Criticism,
> > University of Louisiana Set to Approve
Controversial
Experiments
> >
> > MILL VALLEY, Calif. The University of Louisiana-
Lafayettešs (ULL)
New
> > Iberia Research Center (NIRC) is set to approve a
controversial łcross
> > fostering˛ study that seeks to raise infant
chimpanzees with humans,
In
> > Defense of Animals (IDA) announced today. Two years
ago, the
University
> > declined to proceed with the study amid widespread
criticism from
> > primatologists and chimpanzee experts,
including the
eminent Dr. Jane
> > Goodall.
> >
> > The proposed project, conducted by ULL researcher
Daniel Povinelli and
> > funded with a $1 million grant from the
James S.
McDonnell Foundation
of
> > St. Louis, involves recruiting eight human foster
parents to live in
> > specially constructed facilities at NIRC and
raise
infant chimpanzees
> > for five years.
> >
> > łDaniel Povinelli wants to separate vulnerable baby
chimpanzees from
> > their natural mothers, allow them to bond
with foster
parents for five
> > years, then irrevocably break that bond by
ripping
the trusting
> > youngsters away from the only parents they
have known
and sending them
> > back to a cage in a laboratory,˛ said Elliot
Katz,
DVM, IDA president.
> > łAll this to answer the burning question of
whether
chimpanzees raised
> > by humans in an artificial human laboratory
environment differ
> > developmentally and cognitively from
chimpanzees
raised by other
> > chimpanzees in an artificial animal
laboratory
environment.˛
> >
> > łPovinellišs real agenda is clear,˛ Katz continued.
łAt the cost of
> > immense suffering and eight irreparably
broken lives,
he is attempting
> > to give credence to his absurd theory that
chimpanzees do not think,
or
> > have self-awareness, like humans.˛
> >
> > Katz noted that overwhelming scientific evidence
contradicts
Povinelli,
> > who is so far out of the mainstream that his work is
routinely cited
by
> > fundamentalist creationists in their battles against
the theory of
> > evolution. Katz also observed that
Povinellišs
attempts to prove a
> > łcognitive chasm˛ between humans and
chimpanzees just
happen to take
> > place at a facility that uses hundreds of
chimpanzees
in invasive
> > biomedical research.
> >
> > Primate experts have criticized both the science
behind the study and
> > the ethical cost of pursuing the
experiments.
> >
> > łThe Povinelli project is clearly not original and
appears to be
> > redundant,˛ said renowned sign language
researcher
and chimpanzee
expert
> > Roger Fouts, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at
Central Washington
> > University in Ellensburg, WA. In a
statement against
the proposed
> > experiments, Fouts noted that
cross-fostering
research has been done
> > many times.
> >
> > łAll this evidence points to the very high
probability that the end of
> > Povinellišs experiment will have a
devastating effect
on the
> > psychological well-being of the chimpanzees
involved
when they are
> > abandoned by their human foster parents,˛
Fouts
continued. łThis does
> > not mention the potential devastation that
the
natural mothers will
> > suffer when their babies
> > are taken from them.˛
> >
> > In his statement, Fouts recalled the litany of
tragedies associated
with
> > previous cross-fostering research, including the
deaths of several
> > chimpanzees after being abandoned by their
human
łparents.˛ Foutsš
> > statement can be viewed at
http://www.vivisectioninfo.org/fouts.html.
> >
> > Dr. Goodall shared Dr. Foutsš view when she wrote of
the original
> > Povinelli proposal: łCross-fostering is very
unethical in my view.
Even
> > when captive infant chimps are rejected by their
mothers they should
be
> > introduced into groups of their own species as soon
as possible.
Failure
> > to do this results in long term, sometimes permanent,
behavioural
> > disorders. . . . Detailed observations have
been made
in the past by
> > psychologists on a number of home raised
chimpanzees.
In my view there
> > can be little justification for further
separation of
infant
chimpanzees
> > from their social groups for the purpose of
humanizing them for
> > research.˛ Dr. Goodallšs statement is
available at
> > http://www.ethologicalethics.org/cross_fostering.htm.
> >
> > Katz said that sources have informed his organization
that Povinelli
has
> > recently re-submitted his proposal for review by
NIRCšs Institutional
> > Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Katz
suggested that pressure
> > from a university administration anxious to
bring a
$1 million grant
> > into its coffers could account for the
pending
approval of the
> > controversial study despite rejection two
years ago.
> >
> > According to Katz, the reasons the IACUC should again
reject the study
> > are many and include the:
> >
> > *devastating impact of separating chimpanzee mothers
from their
infants;
> > *immense cruelty and devastation that will result
when the infant
> > chimpanzees raised by humans with toys,
bedrooms and
other amenities
are
> > abandoned and returned to the lab;
> > *lack of justification for breeding eight chimpanzees
at a time when a
> > łsurplus˛ of chimpanzees in laboratories
numbers 700
or more;
> > *lack of scientific validity in a study that
proposes
to compare two
> > groups
> > of chimpanzees both raised in highly unnatural and
artificial
settings;
> > *redundancy of the cross-fostering research; and
> > *overwhelming scientific evidence contradicting
Povinellišs theory
that
> > chimpanzees lack self-awareness and the capacity for
true thought.
> >
> > łTo the McDonnell Foundation, New Iberia and
Povinelli, these baby
> > chimpanzees are not unique and vulnerable
individuals
who need vast
> > emotional, psychological and social
nourishment just
like human
babies,
> > but are simply research objects to be used and
ultimately discarded on
> > the altar of unadulterated human arrogance,˛
said
Katz. łThis project
> > wonšt help human children, as claimed by
Povinelli.
The only humans
it
> > will help are those, like Povinelli and New Iberia,
who will profit
from
> > this willful devastation of these innocent baby
chimpanzees.˛
> >
> > - end -
> >
> > WHAT YOU CAN DO:
> > Oppose this needless suffering, and the waste of
money that could be
> > used to help countless human children, by
strongly
protesting to the
New
> > Iberia IACUC, the president of the University of
Louisiana, Daniel
> > Povinelli, and the James S. McDonnell
Foundation.
They can be reached
> > at the following:
> >
> > University of Louisiana, 337-482-1000 (switchboard)
> >
> > Ray Authement, president; <president(a)louisiana.edu>du>;
482-6203
> Duane
Blumberg, vice-president for research;
<dblumberg(a)louisiana.edu>du>;
> > 482-5811;
> > Dana Hasselschwert, veterinarian/IACUC member;
> > Cary Heath, Prof. Economics/IACUC member;
<cary(a)louisiana.edu>
> Cheryl
Lynch, Prof. of Psychology/IACUC member;
<csm5689(a)louisiana.edu>du>;
> > 482-6596
> > Daniel Povinelli; <djp3463(a)louisiana.edu>du>; 482-5180
> >
> > James S. McDonnell Foundation, 314-721-1532
> > John Bruer, president; <mailto:bruer@jsmf.org>
> > Susan Fitzpatrick, vice-president; > >
> > In Defense of Animals, located in Mill Valley, CA, is
a national
animal
> > protection organization dedicated to ending the abuse
and exploitation
> > of
> > animals by protecting their rights, welfare and
habitats.
IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS
131 CAMINO ALTO
MILL VALLEY, CA 94941
415-388-9641 phone
415.388-0388 fax
www.idausa.org