Uncertain destiny for 41 chimpanzees in Austria

posted in 04 Jun 2009

When North American laboratory Baxter bought the Austrian company IMMUNO AG, it received 41 chimpanzees locked in level 4 security installations. The majority was infected with virus of AIDS and Hepatitis. Some of these primates spent 20 years isolated in laboratory cages, being submitted to all kinds of invasive medical experimentation that did not have any practical result.

Baxter retired the chimpanzees and delivered them to a zoo/safari in Austria called Gänserndorf, which had already some financial problems. Baxter promised this safari that it would support, for 6 years, the maintenance of the 41 primates. This time has gone by and the safari is practically broken.

A new plan is being organized now by the same people who did the transfer of the chimpanzees for the first time. The idea now is to transfer some of the chimpanzees to a zoo in Hungary, called Veszprem. The ones to go to Hungary would be the ones less infected. All these chimpanzees have serious mental problems, due to the long time they were submitted to medical torture. They suffer from auto mutilations, aggressions and coprophagia crisis. The separation, both for the ones who leave and for the ones who stay, can lead to death or to a stronger stress, which can result in worse consequences for their health.

Organization Four Paws launched an alert to the world in order to avoid the division of the original group of 41 chimpanzees, which is called “Baxter”, and to provide them with a fair destiny. They should not be submitted to audience harassment in a zoo, which will exhibit beings who are mentally disturbed and some contaminated with transmitted diseases.

Those who wish to put a voice against the transference of part of the group to Hungary Zoo should visit the website and sign the petition for this campaign –
https://www.secureconnect.at/4pfoten.org/protest/090318/index.php

GAP Project International supports this campaign by Organization Four Paws, which defends the integrity of the group of chimpanzees who had been suffering a lot on human hands.

Dr. Pedro A Ynterian

President, GAP Project International

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