Chimpanzees in the Chihuahuan Desert? Strangely enough, yes. But not roaming the wildlands—instead, inhabiting the Coulston Foundation facility in Alamogordo, New Mexico. At one time, the Foundation was responsible for more than 600 of humankind's closest relative. Sharing most of our genetic makeup, chimpanzees react more like humans in medical investigations than the distantly related monkeys or the ubiquitous laboratory rats and mice. The facility was not without its critics, however, and charges of negligent and unsafe practices surfaced. In the late 1990s, the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration cited the Foundation as in violation of the Animal Welfare Act and Good Laboratory Practices regulations. Soon after, the Foundation lost any possibility of government funding.
In September of 2002, the Alamogordo facility was sold to the Center
for Captive Chimpanzee Care, with the goal of retiring from research the 266
chimpanzees currently housed. For the time being, we will still host our desert colony,
but eventually the chimps will take the route of so many other retirees—move to Florida
and live a life of ease.
Contributor: Arthur H. Harris, Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum, University of Texas at El Paso.
Desert Diary is a joint production of the Centennial Museum and KTEP National Public Radio at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Vogel, G. 2002. Coulston chimps head to retirement. Science, 297: 2191, 2193.