A loophole is preventing the recovery of chimpanzees in the wild by encouraging their illegal trade. A special rule exempting captive chimpanzees from protection is compromising conservation efforts.
While wild chimpanzees have been protected under the Endangered Species Act since 1976, the worldwide population of wild chimpanzees has fallen by nearly 70 percent in the past 30 years.
Allowing captive chimpanzees in the United States to be commercially exploited is encouraging poaching and black-market trade in Africa, hampering international conservation efforts and creating the public misconception that chimpanzees are common in the wild. The double standard of protecting only wild chimpanzees will continue to cause the species to decline.
Protect ALL chimpanzees, both wild and captive, as an endangered species by extending full protection to captive chimpanzees.
Vanessa KauffmanDivision of Policy and Directives Management U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042-PDM
Arlington, VA 22203
US
Phone: 703-358-2138
Email: vanessa_kauffman@fws.gov
