University, county very close on Vilas monkey agreement

UW–Madison has proposed a seven-point agreement to Dane County officials that opens the door to keeping the stumptailed monkey colony at the Henry Vilas Zoo, and finding an acceptable animal sanctuary for the rhesus monkeys.

UW–Madison and county officials are considering a plan to transfer ownership of the stumptailed colony to the county, effective Jan. 1, 1999, and have identified a series of arrangements to provide for their long-term care. The agreement would be contingent upon the county’s ability to find long-term financial support.

In a memorandum of understanding proposed Monday, the county would have 60 days to identify a suitable sanctuary for the rhesus colony. The animal sanctuary would be required to take ownership of the monkeys and provide for the transfer of the colony at no cost to the university. If an agreement with a sanctuary is not reached by that time, the university will retain the right to transfer the colony.

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk is considering the proposal and intends to respond to the university on Tuesday, March 3, according to Charles Hoslet, special assistant to the chancellor for state relations. Hoslet said the university agreed to extend the deadline again from today to Tuesday because the sides are so close to agreement.

The latest developments have come from a series of meetings over the past week led by Graduate School Dean Virginia Hinshaw and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk.

“We appreciate the effort Falk, other county officials, and the governor’s office have shown on this issue in recent weeks,” Hinshaw said. “We all recognize that this is a very unique situation, to have a research facility maintained within a zoo setting for 35 years,” Hinshaw said. “In view of that, the National Institutes of Health has been understanding as we work on placing these animals. To meet the goals of the county and the university I determined this to be the most acceptable solution.”

UW–Madison officials have been looking into alternatives for the monkeys since November, when the NIH announced that the center could no longer use federal funding to support the Vilas monkey colony.

NIH stated that the funding was no longer justified because monkeys at Vilas are not being used in any federally supported research programs. The loss of funding was effective February 1, 1998. Care and maintenance of the Vilas colonies is estimated at more than $100,000 per year. Currently there are about 50 stumptailed monkeys at the zoo, 90 rhesus monkeys at the zoo; and another 40-60 rhesus monkeys (members of the Vilas colony) currently housed at the Primate Center.