Close a Deadly Loophole, Protect Chimpanzees
Please speak up to protect chimpanzees who can't defend themselves. The worldwide population of wild chimpanzees has fallen by nearly 70 percent in the past 30 years -- take action now to save these animals.
Wild chimpanzees have been protected under the Endangered Species Act since 1976, but a special rule exempts captive chimpanzees from protection. This loophole in the Act is preventing the recovery of the species in the wild by encouraging their illegal trade.
Chimpanzees are endangered due to habitat loss, poaching and illegal trafficking -- wild chimpanzees are captured and sold for use as entertainment, as pets and as test subjects.
We have a critical moment right now to help captive and wild chimpanzees: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering whether to protect captive chimpanzees under the Endangered Species Act. Send your comments today in support of protecting every chimpanzee as endangered.
Dear [Decision Maker],
I am writing in support of protecting all chimpanzees, both captive and wild, as endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Failing to protect captive chimpanzees as an endangered species is contributing to their ongoing decline in the wild -- globally, the number of wild chimpanzees has fallen by nearly 70 percent in the last 30 years.
Allowing captive chimpanzees in the United States to be commercially exploited encourages poaching and black-market trade in Africa, hampers international conservation efforts and creates 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.
Please protect all chimpanzees as endangered chimpanzees.
