SCANDAL AT THE WISCONSIN PRIMATE CENTER

In apparent violation of written promises not to harm monkeys raised at the Henry Vilas Zoo, researchers at the UW-Madison Primate Research Center have quietly killed at least a dozen zoo monkeys in experiments.

An investigation by The Capital Times reveals that thesus monkeys born at the zoo were taken and used in AIDS studies. They were injected with the virus that causes the disease and they eventually died.

Over a five-year period, other monkeys were killed because researchers needed their tissue or organs. Still others were sold to other organizations and researchers and their fate is unknown.

The use of zoo monkeys is significant because the zoo and the UW have had an agreement for eight years that asserts zoo monkeys would be not used for invasive research, meaning the monkeys would not be physically harmed.

A letter sent to Vilas Zoo Director Dave Hall on June 15, 1989, and signed by seven to Primate Research Center administrators, said:

"(T)he center's policy regarding animals removed from these established troops ensures that they will not be used in studies at our facility involving invasive experimental procedures. Such animals will be assigned to the center's non-experimental breeding colony where they are exempt from experimental use."

Exactly how many zoo monkeys were used for invasive research is not known. The number could be as small as 12 or, according to sources at the primate center, as many as 70.

The UW-Madison owns the monkey house at the zoo with roughly 150 rhesus monkeys and stump-tailed macaques. The monkeys have been used for observational research by scientists and as an educational tool for the public to learn more about monkeys.

Primate center officials had denied using zoo monkeys in invasive research until The Capital Times obtained specific monkey identification numbers that showed monkeys being born at the zoo and dying at the hands of researchers.

The identification numbers were provided by a Madison animal rights group.

A spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center - the $30 million a year center that is nationally recognized as a leader in primate research - admitted late Friday that the data show that the center likely broke the agreement. "It does seem that someone put a research need over a previous agreement made under a former director," said Jordana Lenon, a primate center spokeswoman.

Joe Kemnitz, interim director of the primate center, said he believed there were exceptions in the agreement that would allow some monkeys to used in invasive studies under unusual circumstances. The monkeys used for AIDS research, for example, may have fallen under that category, he said.

Lenon and other primate center officials could not produce a copy of those exceptions, however neither the 1989 nor a 1990 letter from primate center officials confirming the agreement made mention of any exceptions. And zoo Director Hall said Friday he does not recall any written exceptions to the agreement.

Kemnitz defended the use of some of the zoo monkeys, saying certain individual animals were singled out because they had unique qualities crucial to researchers.

The apparent violations of the agreement have sent a ripple of anger through many current and former employees and animal rights activists, who say monkeys born and raised at the zoo should not be killed in experiments.

Employees at the primate center spoke about the situation only after being guaranteed anonymity. They said they feared retaliation from administrators if their names were learned.

Hall, who takes a hands-off approach to the monkey house because it belongs to the UW, expressed disappointment that the primate center had violated the agreement. But he said, "I don't think they have broken any laws. This was more of a gentleman's agreement." He pointed to UW ownership of the zoo's monkey house and the animals there. The university researchers are running the center under national guidelines, Hall said.

The controversy comes at a time when the Primate Research Center is facing public scrutiny on several fronts.

The primate center was trying to divest itself of the monkey house and its 150 inhabitants earlier this year, but a public outcry slowed the abandonment process.

And scientists at the UW are gearing up for the first national animal rights protest at the center in three years, slated for September.

On Friday, no one could provide any other agreement beyond the letters written in 1989 and 1990 between the primate center and the zoo outlining the ban on invasive research. The letters from center directors to Hall clearly state that no harm should come to the monkeys by way of invasive research.

The Capital Times made inquiries about the fate of seven zoo monkeys it had learned were used in research projects in apparent violation of the agreement. Center officials responded by saying only seven rhesus monkeys from the zoo population were used and had died in research.

The newspaper then revealed it had questions about additional monkeys, and officials then said they did not know an exact count of the monkeys used in invasive research.

Kemnitz, the center's director said earlier this week that monkeys taken from the zoo were used for breeding or for non-invasive research only. That meant, he said, they did not undergo major surgery that was life changing and were not injected with drugs that altered their life because of the experiment. Other monkeys taken from the zoo were used in breeding pairs at the center, Kemnitz said Tuesday.

Presented Friday with evidence that contradicted his earlier statements, Kemnitz conceded some of the zoo monkeys have been used for invasive research. "I know it has happened on occasion and it's a very small percentage - I would say 5 percent or less.... Of the animals that have come from the zoo have been used in a biomedical research project that includes an invasive procedure," he said.

Whatever the case, Kemnitz and Lenon stress that the zoo monkeys are a tiny portion of their research. With 1,300 monkeys and 200 scientists, the center is one of the largest and most reputable primate research facilities in the world.

Lenon said 69 monkeys died in 1995 directly as a result of scientific experiments. Their research has been instrumental in many fields, including studies on aging, osteoporosis and potentially AIDS.

Animal rights activists say they have been trying to prove that the zoo monkeys have been used inappropriately. "This facility is dedicated to educating the public and as a result people get attached to them when they go to visit them each Sunday," said Shirley McGreal, chairwoman of the International Primate Protection League based in South Carolina.

McGreal said she has been trying to prove for sometime that the university has been using zoo monkeys for research that ended their lives, but she has always been told by Kemnitz that it has not.

And Tina Kaske, executive director of the Madison-based Alliance for Animals, hopes the public will fight to keep the monkeys at the zoo. But giving them - and their $100,000 annual price tag - to the zoo is not enough. Kaske said the university should establish an endowment to fund the facility for at least the next five years.

"This is really going to shake up the structure of the whole system at the primate center," Kaske said. "They've lied for so long, and now they've been found out."

When David Wade wakes up every morning, he's got monkeys on the mind.

He goes off to work each day to the Henry Vilas Zoo, where he cares for 158 rhesus and stump-tailed macaque monkeys at the monkey house.

"I felt like I won the lottery the day I got this job," says Wade, who knows the majority of monkeys by name. "My heart sinks a little when I think that my little piece of utopia may be fading away."

Wade's eyes tear somewhat when he talks about the possibility that the monkeys may be taken away from the zoo because their owner - the University of Wisconsin - does not want them any longer.

The recent announcement by officials at the center that they are planning to abandon the 30-year old facility sometime within the next five years has sparked a public debate about the fate of the facility and the monkeys.

It also has the public asking more questions about what the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center does in its research.

And the discovery that some of its monkeys have been taken from their families ant the zoo and have been killed by AIDS research and other studies - an apparent violation of an agreement between the university and the zoo - has raised the temperature of the debate.

But Wade doesn't get too involved in the scientific end of things. He just minds his business: taking care of the monkeys.

Spending just an hour watching the animal from Wade's perch at the top of the monkey house at the zoo, for example, shows just how intelligent and emotional monkeys are.

Mother monkeys watch their babies slide down a slide and climb up walls. The babies learn about life, while the mothers watch closely to protect them from a fall or from an unfriendly foe.

"This is Madison's best kept secret," Wade said, looking down on the three cages from the top of the monkey house. "they live in anonymity. People don't know about these great animals."

Wade is quick to point out that the troops of monkeys are one of the largest groups in the world that have lived together so long. And he would like to see it kept that way. "I've got my fingers crossed that maybe this will ultimately work out," Wade said.

`The 111 rhesus macaques and the 47 stump-tailed macaques at the zoo are descendants of monkeys that first arrived at the zoo decades ago.

The stump-tailed monkeys are especially valuable because it may be the largest troop of older stump-tailed monkeys in the country. The species is classified as threatened, a step below endangered.

The UW, meanwhile, does not need the facility anymore. According to Joe Kemnitz, interim director of the primate enter, the value of the facility to scientists has declined over the past 30 years, and the costs of upkeep continue to climb.

He said there are any number of possibilities that may happen, from having the zoo assume ownership of the facility and its monkeys to the other extreme of entirely removing the building and selling all the monkeys.

"The point is, we are in no rush to do something quickly," Kemnitz says. "In fact, our lease runs for another six years."

The monkey house itself has never been a big part of the research projects at the UW. "It has always been a very small percentage of our overall program," said Kemnitz, who came to the center in 1977.

The primate center nestled on the far south side of campus one block off Regent Street, was established back in the 1960s after Congress pushed for the creation of seven regional research centers aimed at using primates to better understand humans.

"The mission was to use non-human models to solve problems in human health," Kemnitz said. "It's only been since the '60s that we've kept large numbers of primates for research."

Roger, a rhesus monkey born at the Henry Vilas Zoo, died Oct. 31, 1993 after being infected with simian AIDS.

Roger's story is just one example of apparent violations of an agreement between the UW-Madison Primate Research Center and zoo officials concerning the use of monkeys born at the zoo for research.

Roger was born May 1, 1990 to mother Ropey and father Otis, said an employee at the research center who was fond of him.

At age 1, Roger - known as R-90046 to scientists - was taken from his family at the zoo and moved to the primate center, the employee said.

At age 2, he was infected with the monkey version of AIDS. A few months later, in January 1993, Roger's rectum was punctured in six places for biopsies, records reviewed by The Capital Times show.

Roger's lymph nodes became infected and needed to be punctured to drain fluid. He also was injected with whooping cough. Less than a year later, Roger died.

Scientists at the UW-Madison Primate Research Center say it's not their job to know the birthplace of monkeys they use and often kill in experiments.

Presented with data showing that monkeys raise at the Henry Vilas Zoo had died in researchers' hands, David Pauza and Paul Kaufman, two primate scientists at the University of Wisconsin, said they weren't aware that monkeys in their studies had been born at the zoo.

The UW primate center, which owns the monkey house at the zoo and pays for the care of its 159 monkeys, uses hundreds of animals each year in pursuit of medical research.

The distinction between the monkeys at the zoo and other animals raised by the center for experiments is an important one. Primate center officials made written promises that they intended the monkeys housed at the zoo only for observational research and as an educational resource for the public.

The use of at least a dozen zoo monkeys, and perhaps scores more, for lethal experimentation apparently violates written promises by UW scientists not to use monkeys born at the zoo for invasive research.

Pauza said at no time during the past eight years did he knowingly use zoo monkey for his AIDS research. Data obtained by The Capital Times and confirmed with Joe Kemnitz, interim director of the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center, show at least four monkeys born at the zoo were used by Pauza's research team to study AIDS.

"I don't have the authority to assign monkeys," Pauza said, adding that he has always bent over backward to comply with a policy prohibiting zoo monkeys from being used in research.

"This agreement has always caused major problems because it has delayed many projects," he said.

His statement comes a day after Virginia Hinshaw, dean of the UW Graduate School, announced she was launching an investigation into reports that the primate center had broken its agreement with the zoo.

An investigation by The Capital Times revealed that at least a dozen zoo monkeys have been used for invasive or deadly research. Some sources at the center say that number may be as high as 70.

Kaufman, like Pauza, said he did not know he had used zoo monkeys, and said it was the assigner's responsibility to comply with the zoo agreement.

The assigner, Kirk Boehm, did not return a phone call from The Capital Times on Sunday.

Ei Terassawa, another scientist who studied some of the monkeys that were reviewed by The Capital Times, refused to comment. She said she did not want to talk to a reporter and said she was upset to be contacted at home.

Kemnitz, who as interim director of the center is expected to be replaced perhaps as early as this week, maintained Sunday that the primate center has done nothing wrong. The monkeys taken from the zoo and used for invasive research are a tiny percentage of all the monkeys at the center and represent a legitimate exception to the non-use policy, he said.

Today the primate center released another letter written on Feb. 1, 1995, to zoo Director David Hall. If the letter, the previous center director, John Hearn, restated the UW policy that the monkeys would not be used in invasive research, but he added that "in any cases where exceptional circumstances require a different use, for example unique genetic characteristics requiring more detailed investigation for human and animal health, we will review the proposal in advance with you."

Hall said this morning that he remembers discussing an exception at only one point during the past eight years, regarding two monkeys that were genetically unique. The 1995 letter reaffirmed two previous letter, dated in 1989 and 1990, stating the non-invasive use policy.

Kemnitz said the primate center, in connection with the UW News and Public Affairs Office, may release a statement as early as this afternoon explaining the situation.

When asked if a reporter could review records for as many as 70 zoo monkeys that may have been killed or used for invasive research, Kemnitz said top UW administrators were engaged in a review and would release an information later.

Hinshaw, who is Kemnitz's immediate supervisor, said she has asked for documentation of the exceptions to the agreement with the zoo.

She also wants to see monkey records for those taken from the zoo and used in research, she said Sunday. She will review the process used by officials to determine how a monkey fit into the exception clause, she said.

Scientists, meanwhile, say it is their business to conduct research - research that they maintain is critical to solving problems to human health.

Pauza said he thought the UW policy in regard to the zoo monkeys should have been updated annually to "make sure it is in sync with current research." Monkeys at the zoo may not have been cri6tical to some forms of research 10 years ago, but things can change, he said.

Kemnitz responded by saying that the birthplace of a monkey is open to anyone. Had researchers wanted to know where their subject was born, they could have found that information easily, he indicated.

"We have complete documentation for all of our animals regarding their clinical and experiment history," Kemnitz said, "If an investigator is not aware of the origins, it's not because the information was not available, but perhaps because the investigator felt that the location of where the animal was born was not essential.

UW-Madison has banned lethal experiments on research monkeys housed at the Vilas Zoo.

Graduate school dean Virginia Hinshaw, who oversees the Wisconsin Regional Primate Center, said Monday that the university will forbid any exceptions to the center's 1989 policy of not using zoo monkeys for dangerous research such as injecting them with viruses or inducing other life-threatening diseases.

The ban follows news reports that at least a dozen and perhaps as many as 70 rhesus monkeys at the zoo died in AIDS experiments - an apparent violation of the primate center's policy. The primate center owns and cares for 150 rhesus monkeys and stump-tailed macaques housed at Vilas Zoo in Madison. It also owns the building in which they live.

Primate center officials maintain that the zoo monkeys used for invasive research were exceptions to the protection policy because they had unique genetic characteristics. The policy was clarified by the former primate center director, John Hearn, in February 1995 in a letter to Vilas Zoo director David Hall.

That letter says that "in any cases where exceptional circumstances require a different use, for example unique genetic characteristics requiring more detailed investigation for human and animal health, we will review the proposal in advance with you."

Hall said Monday he did not receive any information about using monkeys at the zoo for dangerous research and Hinshaw confirmed that Hearn failed to notify the zoo.

"Hearn based these exceptions on scientific needs, but they should have been followed up with written notification to the zoo," Hinshaw said.

The original protection policy for the zoo monkeys was created during a time of intense animal rights activity, said Joseph Kemnitz, interim director of the primate center. He said that from the zoo's perspective, it was helpful to have a policy of not using high profile animals for invasive research.

Housing research animals in a public zoo is an unusual relationship for a national primate center, but the arrangement has been in place since 1963. A total of 811 rhesus monkeys belonging to the primate center have been born at the zoo, Kemnitz said.

The zoo colony was used primarily for aggression research. In the 1990s, the intensity of behavioral research declined and the primate center needed more monkeys for biomedical experiments, Kemnitz said.

It is unclear how many zoo monkeys were used for invasive research and died as a result. Kemnitz said the center is conducting an inventory of the animals that should be completed today.

This latest incident involving the Wisconsin Regional Primate Center follows news that it now no longer needs the 150 monkeys at the zoo. The center may close the monkey house if the zoo can't afford it and sell the animals to another zoo or research facility.

Before that announcement, UW-Madison disclosed that former director Hearn was forced to resign because he failed to tell Hinshaw about a romantic relationship he had with a woman who worked for him. The university requires that people report personal relationships with a subordinate in order to avoid conflict of interest.

Hinshaw said the committee seeking a replacement for Hearn has narrowed its search to two candidates. Vivien Casagrande of Vanderbilt University and Peter Nathanielsz of Cornell University are the finalists for the job.

The primate center is one of seven federally funded centers in the country that conducts medical research.

An inventory conducted August 11-12, 1997 by officials from the Wisconsin Regional Primate Center indicates that Primate Center monkeys housed in the UW facility at Henry Vilas Park Zoo were used in invasive research projects.

This represents a serious breach of the 1989 local agreement between directors of the center and the zoo.

According to the June 19, 1989 agreement, no invasive studies were to be performed on animals housed at the zoo. While federal regulations for research were strictly followed by the center, the assignment of monkeys from the Vilas facility to some research projects did not adhere to that agreement.

I want to reiterate my instructions to the center's leadership on Monday, Aug. 11, that no monkeys housed in the Vilas facility will be assigned to invasive research projects. No such assignments have been made in 1997, and none will be made in the future.

The records of animals assigned from the zoo to the center since 1989 show:

*A total of 65 monkeys were used in invasive research studies, and 39 of those monkeys died or were euthanized as a result of the research. The remaining 26 monkeys are still part of research projects at the center.

*An additional 26 monkeys were euthanized and used in a tissue distribution program at the center from 1990 to 1996. The goal of the program was to provide researchers with normal tissues important for many internal and external biomedical research projects. That program was discontinued in June 1996.

The decisions made regarding these animals were improper, given the guidelines in the 1989 policy statement. The administration of Vilas Park Zoo should have been consulted about these decisions. I regret that this activity has cast doubt on a facility that is important to the community.

I should emphasize that none of the monkeys currently housed at the Vilas facility have been used in invasive research experiments. I also want to make it clear that, in the past, monkeys from the Vilas facility have been sold as a colony management practice, primarily to prevent overpopulation.

From 1989 to 1995, 110 monkeys were sold to other facilities, such as research universities, companies and an NIH research center. However, no animals have been sold since 1995.

I would also like to address concerns about the future of the center's monkey colony housed at the zoo. The center's lease at the zoo is expected to expire in 2003, and we are currently working to find a long-term home that is best for the welfare of the animals and are committed to supporting the animals financially. But there is no quick resolution to this issue and finding an appropriate arrangement for the colony may take several years.

It is clear that the animal assignment process at the center regarding these specific monkeys failed. This process will be corrected. We are currently conducting a search for a new director of the center, and we look forward to working with that individual to strengthen our excellent research programs and promote public confidence in the center.
 

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