The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last month declined to accept petitions filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other advocacy groups, including Born Free USA and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, as well as renowned primatologists Jane Goodall and Biruté Mary Galdikas, to list long-tailed macaques (scientific name Macaca fascicularis) and southern pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) under the Endangered Species Act, according to a press release from the National Association for Biomedical Research, a medical research industry pressure group, and an online statement and petition from PETA.
The agency’s decision came in the face of growing evidence that the population of the monkeys, natives of Southeast Asia, is decreasing. Following the latest assessment of the species for the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, completed in March 2022, long-tailed macaques and southern pig-tailed macaques were both categorized as “endangered”.
According to the IUCN Red List assessment report, the population of long-tailed macaques is estimated to have dropped by 40% from about 5 million in the 1980s, and is expected to drop by a further 50% over the next three generations, or about 40 years, given the increasing pressure on forest habitats in Southeast Asia. Worse, the monkeys’ habitat is increasingly “severely fragmented” and there are no reliable estimates of surviving numbers in the wild. The monkeys are already extinct in Bangladesh and their presence in Laos is said to be “uncertain”. A subspecies exists in the Nicobar Islands, where new development projects of the Indian government threaten large tracts of virgin forests and the aboriginal tribes as well as animals that live there.
Similarly, the population of pig-tailed macaques is estimated to have dropped by as much as 50% over the past three generations, which is about 33 years for this species. And though the species was reported to be able to make use of anthropogenically affected habitats such as agricultural landscapes and urban areas, the assessors noted that it is sensitive to severe habitat disturbance and clear-cutting, leading to a local decline in site occupancy of 10% over four years from 2013. A high recorded mean infant mortality of 66% (range 30–100% between 2014 and 2021) within the first year in disturbed habitat also indicates that this species is not as adaptable to anthropogenic landscapes as previously thought, they wrote.
However, according to the medical research industry group’s release, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that the petition submitted by PETA and others in April 2023 did not present “credible information” to support impact to the macaque populations or the species as a whole due to potential threats, either separately or cumulatively, such that the species would warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.
Long-tailed macaques are used extensively in biomedical research given their close approximation to humans. Six of the 25 most used prescription drugs were developed with the help of long-tailed macaques, though that only brought the species more misery. According to the National Institutes of Health, research with long-tailed macaques has been crucial for advances in regenerative medicine, immunology, cancer, vaccine development, and pharmacology. The NIH recently published a review confirming the importance of the animals in conducting biomedical research, according to the National Association for Biomedical Research.
The wildlife agency’s decision came after a decision by the IUCN’s Standards and Petitions Committee, in June, to direct reconsideration of the “endangered” designation of the long-tailed macaques. The ruling came in response to a petition filed in September 2023, five months after the petitions by PETA and others, by—take a guess!—the National Association for Biomedical Research.
The petition claimed that 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 scientific data. A separate petition claimed that the Hansen et. al. (2022) authors possessed conflicts of interest that required further investigation by the IUCN.
The Standards and Petitions Committee found while there appeared to be adequate evidence to support the “endangered” listing of the macaques, the lack of clear organization of the available data and the value-laden language used in the assessment report undermined the conclusion. It has asked for a reassessment to be submitted by the Red List Authority responsible for the assessment within eight months from its ruling. If a reassessment is not submitted in time, or the submitted reassessment does not pass muster with the committee, the current assessment will be retracted, and the species status will revert to the previous assessment, which was “vulnerable”.
Matthew R. Bailey, president of the National Association for Biomedical Research, said, “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.”
Founded in 1979, the National Association for Biomedical Research is the only 501(c)(6) non-profit 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.
PETA responded, “The agency took more than 500 days to make this shameful decision and still ignored data from hundreds of scientists who have been working for decades in the natural habitats of these monkey populations…. Fish & Wildlife chose to placate the animal experimentation industry, rather than protecting these two species, whose populations are being decimated by that very industry. In their zeal to get their hands on the monkeys, importers and experimenters are ignoring not only that the primate importation pipeline brings public health risks, but also that soon there will be no more of these animals to snatch from their homes and torment in what has proved to be failed and unethical ‘research’.”
Source: PR Newswire
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