A veterinary worker for The Coulston Foundation holds a baby chimp behind a window at the Holloman AirForce Base, N.M., primate research laboratory. (Dale Fulkerson/AP Photo)

Activists Urge Retirement
As the June 3 deadline for bids approaches, a fierce debate has arisen between animal rights

Monkey Ham is shown being examined by Air Force Major Richard Benson in 1961 after the chimp's ride of 420 miles down the Atlantic Missile range in a Mercury-Redstone rocket.(AP Photo)

proponents, primatologists—who believe the chimps should be allowed to live out their remaining years in a retirement colony—and scientists, who would like to continue using them for biomedical research and breeding purposes. The Air Force and NASA stopped experimenting with the chimps in the 1970s, instead leasing them out to private laboratories.
     The military’s relationship with the chimps began in the 1950s, when the Air Force established a colony of 65 chimpanzees at Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico. The chimps were seized from the wild in Africa, and enlisted in the space program, where they were subjected to tests designed to gauge how humans would react to space travel.
     Three months before Alan B. Shepard became the first U.S. astronaut to travel in space, an American chimpanzee named Ham rocketed beyond the earth’s atmosphere in a Mercury capsule in January 1961. Ten months later, another chimp, named Enos, successfully orbited the earth—several months before astronaut John Glenn’s historic orbital flight aboard Friendship 7.
     While Ham, Enos and their colleague, Minnie, were the only chimps trained specifically for space travel, the 65 original primates were subjected to a variety of tests related to the space program, including impact, weightlessness and sleep deprivation studies.

Foundation Eyes Chimps
The Coulston Foundation of Alamogordo, New Mexico, which currently leases the chimps and has worked with them since the 1970s, is considering whether or not to submit a bid for custody of the chimpanzees.
     Don McKinney, the foundation’s spokesman, said Coulston is interested in obtaining full custody of the chimps to continue with breeding and biomedical research activities. The foundation has conducted a variety of prior experiments on the chimps that have contributed to AIDS and hepatitis research.
     Animal rights groups, however, have criticized the foundation, arguing that it has abused the chimps. In 1995, the Agriculture Department charged the Coulston Foundation with 24 violations of the Federal Animal Welfare Act, including failure to properly care for the chimpanzees and provide sufficient sanitation.
     In 1996, the foundation paid the government $40,000 in fines to settle similar charges. McKinney, however, disputed the charges, as well as an additional claim brought earlier this month by the USDA.
     “Much of it is not fact, if not all of it,” he said. McKinney stressed that Coulston has not admitted any culpability.
     He also dismissed charges that the foundation is not concerned for the well-being of the chimps.
     “We have a huge concern for animals. We have a very large moral concern, and we take good care of the chimps.”
     McKinney criticized animal rights activists who believe the primates should be allowed to retire on a non-scientific colony rather than to continue as research subjects.
     “We do very important research, life-saving research, and to tell you the truth, we really don’t have time for these people. They have a single agenda and they haven’t done anything constructive in their lives.”
     Dr. Carole Noon, project director for the Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care, said her organization, which also plans to submit a custody bid, is concerned only with “what is in the best interests of the chimps.”

Simian Custody Battle
The center, which is receiving assistance from primatologists Dr. Jane Goodall and Dr. Roger Fouts, is currently trying to raise the funds necessary to win custody of the chimpanzees. According to Noon, the chimps deserve a peaceful retirement.
     “They have bravely served their country. They are heroes and veterans. They deserve their retirement,” Noon said.
     The center estimates it will cost about $14 million to build a sanctuary for the chimps, some of whom are expected to live for another 40 years, in Texas or Florida. The American Anti-Vivisection Society has issued a challenge grant of $1 million, and the center maintains that in time it could raise the necessary funds.
     Last month, the center, along with the Doris Day Animal League, submitted a petition to various government officials including Defense Secretary William Cohen. The petition called for the Coulston Foundation to release background and personality information about the chimps, and it requested an extension of the June 3 bidding deadline.
     Noon believes the Coulston Foundation already has a leg up in the bidding process, both financially, and in terms of its familiarity with the animals. Thirty five members of Congress recently drafted a letter to the Air Force in support of the Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care, alleging the Coulston Foundation does in fact have an unfair advantage.

CHIMPS IN SPACE
The U.S. Air Force gathered 65 toddler chimpanzees from Africa in the 1950s, enlisting them in research for the fledgling space program. After arriving at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, the chimps were used to test the effects of space flight. They were trained to carry out tasks on the mission by getting bananas for performing correctly and receiving electric shocks for making mistakes.
Ham On Jan. 31, 1961, chimponaut Ham blasted off in a Mercury capsule, three months before Alan Shepard became the first American in space.      NASA’s archives say, “Ham’s survival and performance, despite a host of harrowing mischances… raised the confidence level of the astronauts and capsule engineers alike.” Ham was later housed at the National Zoo in Washington. After that, he was moved to a zoo in North Carolina, where he lived with other chimps before eventually dying of an enlarged heart.	Enos Second in space was Enos, whose Mercury capsule orbited the Earth twice on Nov. 29, 1961, paving the way for John Glenn’s historic flight.      During the mission, one of the capsule’s roll thrusters malfunctioned, causing it to tumble out of control. Later in the flight, the reward system also malfunctioned. Instead of being rewarded for a correct decision and shocked for pulling the wrong lever, the signals became reversed. But Enos performed flawlessly despite the malfunction. He died shortly after his flight.

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