191mm Starts Earnatr

WASHINGTON, DC 20510

August 15, 2018

Francis S. Collins, M.D., 
Director

National Institutes of Health
9000 Rockville Pike

Bethesda, MD 20892

Dear Director Collins,

Thank you for your continued work to coordinate the transport of approximately 100 chimpanzees
out of laboratory settings at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to sanctuary since the 2015
announcement and 2016 Federal Register Notice that the NIH would no lenger maintain a colony
of chimpanzees for future research. We write to you today to ask that you expedite the transfer of
the remaining approximately 260 chimpanzees now that the public comment period on the NIH
Council of Councils report on Assessing the Safety of Relocating AtnRisk Chimpanzees has come
to an end.

We are encouraged that NIH has moved a signi?cant number of chimpanzees to sanctuary.
However, there are currently three federally sponsored laboratories where chimpanzees are still
housed including the Alamogordo Primate Facility (APF) in New Mexico, which currently houses
approximately 55 chimpanzees. Chimp Haven is a 200 acre private sanctuary in Louisiana, where
many of the animals who have already been transferred will live out the remainder of their lives in
a more natural environment.

We understand that the cost to taxpayers to manage the chimpanzees at the facility in Alamogordo
is now more than twice the cost of sanctuary, and further, the Alamogordo facility is not equipped
to provide conditions that promote the general well-being of chimpanzees, including the
opportunity to live in mixed-sex groups and have daily access to nesting materials. We appreciate
the work of staff at APF and their efforts to provide a caring environment for these animals, but
sanctuaries like Chimp Haven are clearly a more appropriate home for chimpanzees than federal
laboratories, regardless of the health status of individual chimpanzees.

Now that the public comment period has closed on the Council of Councils repert, your decision
on whether to move the remaining animals and when, is critical. We respectfully request that you
honor the 2015 commitment and 2016 Federal Register Notice to transfer all federally supported
chimpanzees to sanctuary. To navigate this unique moment, we respectfully recommend that NIH
act swiftly to convene an independent team of experts to include at least one veterinarian and one
behaviorist with previous experience in caring for apes in sanctuaries, zoos, or in the wild to assess
all hi gh-risk chimpanzees and coordinate transfers to Chimp Haven. We support the NIH providing
the most appropriate and compassionate setting for the approximately 260 remaining chimpanzees,
which means transferring them all to sanctuary as soon as possible. We ask that you leverage all
resources at your disposal to expedite transfers and request that you send our of?ces a detailed
plan once your decision has been made.

Thank you again for your sincere efforts and we look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,
g3 grab/6'7, m- 
T0111 Udall Bill Cassidy

United States Senator United States Senator