Jerom, a chimpanzee, was taken from his mother at a young age. Unfortunately, Jerom was part of an experiment and was infected with HIV at the age of two. Jerom spent the duration of his life in the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, which is a federally funded laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia, until he died at the age of 14. He was housed in the Chimpanzee Infectious Disease (CID) building which is isolated from the other housing and research buildings on Yerkes main property. The CID building in which Jerom was kept in was described as a small, windowless box with cement walls and no outdoor access. Reality for these chimpanzees was a grey, dark space with damp floors and walls (Weiss). Because of these living conditions, several of the chimpanzees suffered from depression and were constantly in fear. The wrongful treatment of chimpanzees has been occurring for many years and is beginning to be a major problem. The United States government needs to eliminate medical testing on chimpanzees. It is no longer needed and it ultimately decreases a chimp’s quality of life and often results in death. Background Behavioral studies on chimpanzees began in the United States in the 1920s. Robert M. Yerkes was the first psychologist to study the behavior of chimpanzees. When he first started studying these animals, he only concentrated on the behavioral aspects of chimpanzees. He was not interested at this time in using them for medical experiments. Later on in the 1940s was when scientists started to use chimpanzees for medical experiments. Medical studies and experimentations lasted until 1973, when President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law. “The Endangered Species Act made it illegal to import ... ... middle of paper ... ...t kills more than 66,000 children each year” (Wadman). Conclusion The United States government should prohibit biomedical testing on chimpanzees and relocate the animals to sanctuaries such as Chimp Haven, where they will live a relatively normal life and will no longer be experimented on. Chimpanzees have greatly contributed to our understanding of diseases and have helped medical doctors find cures in the past. However, with the advancement of technology the need to experiment on chimpanzees is no longer needed. Chimpanzees have been forced into dangerous, uncomfortable and invasive procedures for many years and have had to deal with the fear and loneliness that the research laboratories provided. These chimpanzees were not meant to be treated and experimented on. The United States has to declare testing on chimps as unconstitutional before it’s too late.
There are contrasts in tool kits used by different groups of chimpanzees, which seem to be a result of the environment in which they live as well as information that is shared by the group. For example, in 1973 it was reported that chimpanzees in Gombe did not use hammer stones, but those of Cape Palmas did. We will explore the tool use of Chimpanzees from the wild, including Gombe, Tai National Forest, and the Congo Basin---and contrast those with Chimpanzees in captivity in locations of Zoo’s both in the United States and abroad.
In primates such as chimpanzees it is imperative to look at their culture to understand their intelligence. Culture in this circumstance means a specific set of behaviors obtained through learning in a population/species. Chimpanzee’s intelligence is quite unique how they interact with their environment and use it to their benefit just like humans. They have the ability to overcome the obstacles of everyday life through learning and the ability to use tools to create a better quality of life. The complexity of their intellect is different from any other animal ever seen. A significant part of chimpanzee intelligence that sets them apart from other primates and puts them closer to humans is the way they exhibit social learning within their culture and interactions within their environment.
Gluck mentions that there are many ethical principles researchers must follow when conducting research on humans, but no document exists for primates. He states that research in cognitive ethology and neuroscience suggests that we underestimate animals’ mental complexity and pain sensitivity. However, if a human is the subject then the researchers are much more cautious. Due to the lack of acknowledging animals’ suffrage, Gluck’s argument is that our moral universe changes. Primates feel pain similar to humans. Humans rely on the ethical code of conduct during research. There is no ethical code of conduct for primates even though they feel pain just as humans do; therefore, our moral universe changes. The conclusion considering our change in morals is an inductive leap rather than a necessary
As we know, scientists still find a vaccine for HIV/AIDS. For doing their experiment they can’t not use human for specimen. Scientists must find new alternative ‘there are many way to Roma’, they had found chimpanzee genes has 96% to 98% similarity with humans (WWF,n.d). It is the main reason why chimpanzees used in experiment. The scientist used several chimpanzee to find new medicine for example HIV/AIDS vaccine. Until now the result is none, and there are many chimpanzees killed for it. We know to find something new, we must sacrifice something. For example sacrifice chimpanzees to find new medicine, but let’s think for the future if the scientists use it. Sometimes Chimpanzees will be extinct
Right now, millions of mice, rats, rabbits, primates, cats, dogs, and other animals are locked inside cold, barren cages in laboratories across the country. They languish in pain, ache with loneliness, and long to roam free and use their minds. Instead, all they can do is sit and wait in fear of the next terrifying and painful procedure that will be performed on them.” (“Animal Testing 101”)
...an ape with a tube in its skull than it is to unite behind a defenseless woman. It is important and even very crucial that such people as disabled people defend animal testing. For example we can return to both the medical and social conditions of what are now thankfully in the past. Doesn’t it make more sense for one to test on chimps before people? In the past, disabled people were used as medical guinea pigs. Call me an animal-hating barbarian, but I would rather use animals than my fellow mental types. (Newsweek 2005)
The majority of animals used for testing are rats and mice. Other animals include hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, dogs, cats, nonhuman primates, frogs, and cattle. One case involving monkeys is extremely inhumane, but still continues happening today. A National Institutes of Health laboratory in the United States breeds dozens of monkeys every year to be prone to mental illness. Half of the babies are torn away from their mothers in order to inflict mental trauma on them. The baby monkeys suffer from horrible fear, anxiety, and depression. Their misery lead to hair loss, diarrhea, and even self-mutilation. Along with the already horrifying experiment, the baby monkeys are later caged with their tranquilized mothers. The terrified babies’ frantically attempt to revive their mothers. The monkeys are inflicted with mental traumatization all for an experiment that was of no use. Useless funded experiments continue to happen and many lead to deaths of the
...d the disease from an infected chimpanzee in the forest. She was sent to a Swiss hospital where she recovered. An autopsy of the Chimpanzee showed effects similar to the Ebola virus.
There should be more restrictions on how the animals are treated and the situations in which they can be experimented on. Hundreds of millions of vertebrate animals worldwide undergo animal experimentation each year. The animals being experimented on can become severely injured or sick because of what is tested on them and because of the conditions they are kept in. Over the years, many laws and regulations have been passed to improve the conditions in which the animals have to live. Testing on these animals has created multitudes of scientific breakthroughs. However, animal testing can be very cruel and can lead to the animals being killed or re-used for other experiments after if they do not die during the procedures. Using animals for testing should only be used for necessary experiments that need to be tested to save the lives of many people and should be regulated to not endanger or abuse
Inside the chimp habitat, I noticed a sign which read: Look here for a “zoo” born! When I saw it, I recalled that earlier during the day, a senior docent named Rhonda who worked with the gorillas had told me that there was recently a newborn chimp. She said to look very closely to find the baby because the mother was extremely protective of it. She had also mentioned that the newborn’s furless skin would be very pink. At first, I looked very keenly for the small new chimp who had just been born this year, but I couldn’t find it. I finally spotted the baby after I moved to a different position to view the chimps from the open air viewing area. The infant was just as Rhonda had described it: nestled in its mother’s arms as she shielde...
Studying chimpanzees is not an easy task. Subsequently, Jane Goodall made it look as simple as doing everyday activities. When she started the research, the chimpanzees fled from her in fear. It took many months for her to get close to them. With patience and persistence, she searched the forest everyday, deliberately trying not to get too close to them. Everyday she did this for many months. On some days Jane would observe the chimpanzees through binoculars from a peak overlooking the forest, just so she wouldn’t disturb their natural behavior. Gradually over a long period of time the chimpanzees became accustomed to her. At this time, she would be able to move up to them and just sit there and study them. She believed that this was her breakthrough in her research. Jane tells us “I must find a way to watch free, wild animals living their own, undisturbed lives. I wanted to learn things that no one else knew, uncover secrets through patient observation. I wanted to come as close to talking to animals as I could (www.nationalgeographic.com).” To be able to have such patience and persistence is remarkable.
Chimpanzees are part of the non-human primate group. Though we share a common ancestor, evolution has pushed us in different directions. However this common ancestor causes humans to be curious about these creatures. As discussed in Jane Goodall’s video Among the Wild Chimpanzees we were once considered to be human because of our use of tools but once we observed these non-human primates using tools, this perception was changed forever. The question now at hand is if having the chimpanzees that we study in captivity makes a difference between studying wild chimps. These interesting creatures can be found naturally in the rainforests of Africa.
“Over 1 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned, and abused in U.S. labs” according to DoSomething.org. And although these animals may be considered protected under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) they are still able to be tortured and mistreated in labs. On top of all this, there is absolutely no guarantee that results and data collected from these procedures are accurate. Our anatomic builds are similar in ways but not at all interchangeable. Even though it has saved lives, animal experimentation should be banned because it is not a guarantee that these procedures are done pain free and humans and animals react differently to the medicines and chemicals used.
Should policies on chimpanzee use in biomedical research be revised, if at all? In the past decades, thousands of chimpanzees have been tested on in order to benefit humankind. Chimpanzees have been useful in developing medical research as they are the closest relatives of humans and have been subject to testing due to the belief that humans should not be tested on. Whereas others would argue against the genetic similarities between the two species as well as the cruel conditions of testing on primates. Therefore, chimpanzee testing must be regulated…
Such medical experimentations on monkeys created severe health problems and infected wounds, bones sticking, chewed-off fingers and toes as well as even resulted to death. For instance, at the Armed Forces Radiobiology Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, “monkeys were forced and even given electric shocks to run on a treadmill” (Owen 45). Such harsh and unethical human actions and abuse of monkeys for humans’ life betterment are unjustifiable as Regan states "fundamental wrong is the system that allows us to view animals as our resources, here for us--to be eaten, or surgically manipulated, or exploited for sport or money” (Lehman Hugh). Scientists do monkeys’ experiments in lab because of their large supply available and other economic advantages such as low cost. The economic advantages of monkeys enabled scientists to keep them for long period in the lab and use them many times for drug tests. Unavailability of a global comprehensive principle to deal with animal experiments such as medical research on monkeys allowed scientists to put the life of them at risk and the monkeys’ generation at destruction. Also such medical experiments on monkeys increased potential risk of infecting other monkeys and animals the humans’ deceases. Additionally, Many of the researches have done on monkeys do not apply to humans, because they have had adverse effects on humans. The side-effect on humans implies that while humans and