Salute e Benessere
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Rejects Petition to List Long-Tailed Macaques Under the Endangered Species Act
Long-tailed macaques are used extensively throughout the world in biomedical research given their close approximation to human beings. Six of the 25 most used prescription drugs were developed with the help of long-tailed macaques. Research with long-tailed macaques has been crucial for advances in regenerative medicine, immunology, cancer, vaccine development, and pharmacology. The National Institutes for Health (NIH) recently published a review confirming the importance of LTMs in conducting biomedical research.
The USFWS decision follows a recent decision by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s decision to reconsider the "Endangered" designation of LTM in response to a petition from the National Association for Biomedical Research (NABR) challenging the listing decision by IUCN. The IUCN directed authors that had conducted a status review (Hansen et al. 2022) to reevaluate their assessment to address scientific issues raised by NABR in its petition.
NABR's petition showed the 2022 review by Hansen et. al., which the IUCN used as the basis for its decision to uplist the long-tailed macaque's status, misrepresented existing scientific data. A separate petition filed by Dr. Hank Jenkins , which remains pending before the IUCN, asserts that the Hansen et al. (2022) authors possess conflicts of interest that require further investigation by the IUCN.
"NABR is pleased that the USFWS has declined to accept the petition filed by PETA and other advocacy groups based upon its consideration of the best available scientific information," "Available scientific information clearly shows that this species is not at risk and does not warrant a further status review. NABR looks forward to working with USFWS to ensure the integrity of its scientific processes."
The conservation status of long-tailed macaque and PETA's involvement in government programs was recently the subject of a
U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee hearing in
September 2024 . Witnesses at this hearing testified that PETA and other animal advocacy groups had improperly attempted to influence government investigations of private parties and foreign governments for political reasons.
More information regarding the NABR petition is available online at www.nabr.org .
Founded in 1979, the National Association for Biomedical Research (NABR) is the only 501(c)(6) nonprofit association dedicated to sound public policy for the humane use of animals in biomedical research, education, and testing. Members include more than 340 universities, medical and veterinary schools, teaching hospitals, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, patient groups, and academic and professional societies who rely on humane and responsible animal research to advance global human and animal health. Learn more about us at www.nabr.org .
FBR's Role of LTMs in Research Fact Sheet 01-2024 FINAL, available online at
https://fbr-cms-bucket.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/FBR_s_Role_of_LT_Ms_in_Research_Fact_Sheet_01_2024_FINAL_802d17fd7d.pdf?updated_at=2024-02-26T16:44:17.000Z
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8848615/#:~:text=Non%2Dhuman%20primates%20play%20a,organs%20affected%20by%20degenerative%20diseases . regenerative medicine
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-018-0005-7 immunology
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9808758/#:~:text=Furthermore%2C%20NHP%20naturally%20develop%20cancers,and%20patients%20with%20human%20cancer . cancer research/therapies
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5886327/ behavioral pharmacology
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8402317/ COVID 19 vaccine development
Hilborn, R., & Smith, D. R. (2023). Is the long–tailed macaque at risk of extinction? American Journal of Primatology, e23590. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23590
Contact: Eva Maciejewski
emaciejewski@nabr.org
(202) 967-8305
View original content: https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/the-us-fish-and-wildlife-service-rejects-petition-to-list-long-tailed-macaques-under-the-endangered-species-act-302269130.html