Retired research chimps to be moved from New Mexico to a Louisiana sanctuary

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The National Institutes of Health decided to relocate nearly two dozen retired research chimpanzees from a facility in New Mexico to a sanctuary in Louisiana, a move celebrated Friday by animal advocates who have been fighting for years to get the animals moved.

NIH representatives confirmed in an email that the transfer of the 23 chimps from the Alamogordo Primate Facility at Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico will happen in the coming months.

Staffing issues, namely the planned retirement of the chimps' caretakers, prompted the decision to move the chimps, the agency stated. The animals have not been used as test subjects since 2015, when the NIH retired chimpanzees — humans’ closest relatives — from invasive research.

More than 200 were previously moved to the federally supported sanctuary, but the NIH said it was decided in 2019 that some were too frail to be relocated due to their health conditions. They remained at the base under the care of contracted veterinarians and caregivers.

The contractor informed the NIH that a significant number of staff were expected to retire by July 2025.

“Recruitment and training of new staff has proven difficult due to the specialized nature of the work and APF’s remote location," the NIH statement said. "Given this uncertainty, NIH has determined that the best course of action for the welfare of all these chimpanzees is to relocate them to the federal sanctuary at Chimp Haven.”

Agency spokesperson Amanda Fine said relocating chimpanzees is a complex, time-consuming process and that Chimp Haven will work with the NIH and the facility in Alamogordo to ensure the health and safety of each animal during the move.

The Humane Society of the United States is among the groups that have been sending letters to and petitioning the NIH over the years to relocate the last of the Alamogordo chimps.

The Humane Society of the United States, Animal Protection New Mexico, Humane Society Legislative Fund and others sued the NIH in 2021. A federal judge issued a ruling the next year, finding that the NIH could not legally refuse sanctuary retirement for the chimpanzees because of their chronic health conditions.

“We believe that the extraordinary amount of pressure that has been put on NIH to move them to Chimp Haven -- including the engagement of thousands of our supporters who demanded that the chimps be moved and our winning lawsuit — played a major role in the decision to finally move them to sanctuary,” the group said.

The chimps — which range in age from 34 to 62 years old — could have years ahead of them to enjoy life at the sanctuary, advocates said. The sanctuary has cared for hundreds of chimps since the first two animals arrived there in 2005. That includes 214 that were sent there from NIH-supported facilities following the agency's 2015 decision.

Chimp Haven President and CEO Rana Smith said Friday that the sanctuary is close to capacity and will have to build additional living spaces to accommodate the chimps.

The expansion is expected to cost at least $4 million, which will have to be raised from private supporters.

“There are many details to be determined in the weeks to come, but for now, we celebrate this wonderful news for the APF chimps,” Smith said.

New Mexico was once home to a large colony of captive-bred chimpanzees, with the animals first brought to the state for space travel testing. Later, the colony was acquired by the Coulston Foundation, and expanded for use with drug testing and infectious disease research.

Animal Protection New Mexico has pressed for the chimpanzees’ freedom since the mid-1990s.

“These deserving chimpanzees have endured so much for so long, and their arrival in sanctuary will represent the federal government’s honoring of its obligation and commitment to their retirement,” said Elisabeth Jennings, the group's executive director.

In this image taken from a video provided by the National Institutes of Health, a retired research chimpanzee is given a snack on Oct. 2019, at the Alamogordo Primate Facility in southern N.M. (National Institutes of Health via AP)

This Aug. 29, 2024 image provided by Chimp Haven, shows chimpanzees TJ and Nicole hanging out at a sanctuary near Keithville, La. The two were among a group of chimps previously relocated from the Alamogordo Private Facility at Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico. (Chimp Haven via AP)

In this image taken from a video provided by the National Institutes of Health, a retired research chimpanzee sits in an enclosure, Oct. 2019, at the Alamogordo Primate Facility in southern N.M. (National Institutes of Health via AP)

In this image taken from a video provided by the National Institutes of Health, a retired research chimpanzee hangs in an enclosure, Oct. 2019, at the Alamogordo Primate Facility in southern N.M. (National Institutes of Health via AP)

In this image taken from a video provided by the National Institutes of Health, a retired research chimpanzee eats, Oct. 2019, at the Alamogordo Primate Facility in southern N.M. (National Institutes of Health via AP)

FILE - The administrative building of the National Institutes of Health is shown in Bethesda, Md., Aug. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said Tuesday that he didn't expect President-elect Donald Trump’s next administration would demand that the Philippines pay more for military protection because both allies faced the shared threat of China.

Teodoro was speaking at a news conference with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles following an inaugural bilateral annual meeting aimed at improving security ties.

Asked if Trump would expect the Philippines, like Taiwan, to pay for U.S. protection, Teodoro replied: “I really don’t expect some sort of a statement from Mr. Trump, hopefully not.”

“I really don’t have any preconditions or any assumptions as to what will be the outcome of this administration, except on what we are working on — on institutional ties,” he said.

“We have an interest, both the United States and the Philippines, in ensuring that our partnership continues because — not totally, but principally — ... of shared threats. And that is undoubtedly the overreach and the aggressive and illegal activities of China,” he added.

Marles said that Australia had been confident that regardless of the U.S. presidential election outcome, Australia’s alliance with Washington would remain in “good shape.”

“What we see in the election of President Trump and in the formation of his administration, is an administration which will maintain America’s role of leadership in the world, which is really important in terms of maintaining the global rules-based order, which is very much in Australia’s national interest,” Marles said.

Last week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed two laws reaffirming the extent of his country’s maritime territories and right to resources, including in the South China Sea, angering China, which claims the hotly disputed waterway almost in its entirety.

China’s Foreign Ministry said it summoned the Philippine ambassador to China to lodge a “stern protest.” The ministry condemned the move as an attempt to “solidify the illegal ruling of the South China Sea arbitration case through domestic legislation.”

Confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces in the disputed sea passage have spiked alarmingly since last year. That has sparked fears that the United States — Manila’s longtime treaty ally — may get drawn in a major conflict.

The laws, called the Philippine Maritime Zones Act and the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, were signed by Marcos in a nationally televised ceremony attended by top military and national security officials. They further cement Manila’s rejection of China’s claims to virtually the entire sea passage, and stipulate jail terms and stiff fines for violators.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, left, shakes hands with Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. during the inaugural Australia-Philippines Defence Ministers' Meeting at Parliament House in Canberra, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)