The Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday rejected a bid by wildlife advocates to secure Endangered Species Act protections for macaques commonly used in biomedical research.
After about 18 months of study, the federal agency determined that neither the long-tailed macaque nor the southern pig-tailed macaque qualify for listing as threatened or endangered. The two April 2023 petitions for ESA protections had cited risks to the animals ranging from habitat destruction to a demanding international trade.
“While we found that the petition provided documentation of negative impacts to individual macaques from these potential threats, the petition did not present credible information to support impacts … to populations or the species as a whole due to these potential threats, either separately or cumulatively, such that the species may warrant listing,” the Fish and Wildlife Service stated.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had joined with famed primatologist Jane Goodall and organizations including the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in proposing the ESA listings.
