Catagorize ALL chimpanzees as "endangered"
- av: Angie Simpson
- mottagare: Gary Frazer, Asst. Director for Endangered Species, US Fish and Wildlife Services
Chimpanzees are the only species with a split classification - those in the wild are "endangered", but those in captivity are only "threatened".
Chimpanzee are listed in a split classification on the Endangered Species list. Those in the wild are listed as "endangered", while those in captivity are only "threatened". When the US Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Service first announced that it wanted to upgrade all chimps from "threatened" to "endangered", it recieved 54,212 letters of support. Only 8 biomedical researchers and 1 person from a circus opposed the new classification. But the National Institutes of Health (NIH) negotiated the split classification instead so that medical researchers could continue experimenting on chimpanzees without having to tell the public what they are doing. Now as wild chimp numbers dwindle further and further, captive chimps can be killed so that we will know how much Drano can be consumed before we will die, without our even knowing it. These maginficant creatures suffer because they share all but 1.5% of our DNA. Yet no successful medical breakthroughs have come from research on chimps, because they are not enough like us. 54,212 to 9, ALL chimps should be listed as the endangered species they are! PLEASE update chimpanzees, they are all endangered, no matter where they live!
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