The University of Southwestern Louisiana New Iberia Research Center proposes to establish a chimpanzee breeding colony as a research and production colony with a consignment of nineteen adult females, six male breeders, fifteen females and one male native born adolescents as well as five juvenile females and one male included for staged inclusion into breeder program. This program will be located in a semi-outdoor colony facility renovated for this specific purpose with sufficient technical and professional staff to maximize the progeny production potential of the group. Appropriate research into the problems of breeding and rearing native born progeny will be undertaken in conjunction with this resource. In order to perpetuate the availability of chimpanzees as unique biomodels in human disease research, this program will be designed for phased expansion with the ultimate objective of being self-sustaining in both population and revenue support.
