Proposal for sanctuary not viable; Tulane plans continue

A reported offer Wednesday morning that an animal sanctuary would accept University of Wisconsin–Madison monkey colonies for $15,000 turned out to only be a down payment to begin relocation; a complete transfer would carry a much larger price tag and remained an uncertain alternative for the animals.

University officials had previously explored sanctuary options, including the one named in the proposal today, and received cost estimates ranging from $100,000-$150,000 for the rhesus colonies from Dr. Thomas Butler, a veterinarian who consults with animal protection groups.

With conflicting information on the Texas sanctuary and an opportunity to complete the transfer to Tulane, UW–Madison officials could not give the Alliance for Animals’ proposal any further consideration. The university is currently moving the rhesus monkeys from the Henry Vilas Zoo to the Tulane Regional Primate Research Center, in Covington, La., a program of Tulane University.

Ultimately finding the best long-term care for the rhesus has been and remained the university’s top priority, said Virginia Hinshaw, dean of the Graduate School.

“Our professional judgment, after reviewing all of the options is that the Tulane facility is the best possible option for a colony of monkeys this large,” Hinshaw said.

“There are not many facilities that can accept this size colony and keep the monkeys together,” Hinshaw said. “This transfer to another federally funded primate facility was the appropriate choice.”

“We continue to explore options for the best placement of the stumptail colony,” Hinshaw said, and those monkeys will remain at the zoo in the interim. UW–Madison will continue to negotiate with conservation groups in Thailand to transfer the stumptailed monkeys, a threatened species, to a proposed refuge there. The groups in Thailand expressed interest in the colony in December.

The staff of the UW–Madison chancellor’s office met Wednesday morning with Karen West, a member of the Henry Vilas Zoo Commission, and Regina Rhyne, a Dane County supervisor. Later in the morning, they received more information from Alliance for Animals President Tina Kaske.

An Alliance for Animals press release early Wednesday morning stated the Wild Animal Orphanage of San Antonio, Texas, is willing to take all of the UW–Madison monkeys from the Henry Vilas Zoo for $15,000. The sanctuary reportedly also would have released the university and county from any liability for the colony after the transfer.

John Dowling, an attorney with the university, talked with Carol Asvestas, vice president of the Wild Animal Orphanage, to verify the information that was proposed to the university by the alliance and was informed that the $15,000 was merely a down payment, with the cost for the rhesus and stumptail colonies with an estimate of at least $90,000.

The university and Dane County officials failed to reach agreement late Tuesday on the future of the Vilas colony, which prompted UW–Madison to move ahead with plans today to transfer the rhesus monkeys to Tulane. But the proposal early Wednesday morning from the Alliance for Animals needed a serious review before the Tulane plans went forward, said Charles Hoslet, special assistant to the chancellor for state relations.

Joseph Kemnitz, interim director of the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center, said the director of the Tulane facility intends to use the rhesus monkeys in an outdoor breeding colony. Should any of the monkeys become unsuitable for breeding, they may be assigned to research projects with the oversight of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Kemnitz said.

The Wisconsin and Tulane Centers are among seven supported by NIH to conduct strictly regulated, humane research involving animals to make progress on a number of human health issues. Studies are investigating cancer, AIDS, infectious disease and other significant human health threats.

In November, NIH decided to end a long tradition of funding the UW–Madison center’s facility at the Henry Vilas Zoo, which was established in 1963. The facility costs more than $100,000 a year to maintain and provide proper care for the roughly 150 monkeys housed there.

Noting that its primary goal is to solve human health problems, NIH decided to end support for the zoo facility because the animals were no longer being used in research programs.