Ending years of controversy, the Netherlands has handed over its last research chimpanzees to a private animal-rights foundation. The move followed the approval by the Dutch House of Representatives of a ban on biomedical ape research, effectively closing the door to new chimpanzee experiments in Europe.

In June, the Dutch government and the 'Stichting AAP' agreed on the transfer of 63 chimpanzees currently located at the Biomedical Primate Research Center in Rijswijk. The privately funded foundation will build new facilities where the retiring chimpanzees can spend their senior days, their level of care and confinement dictated by the Dutch government's standards. In return, the government will for the next 25 years contribute €24,000 per animal.

The actual transfer of the animals will begin late next year. Twenty-nine chimpanzees infected with HIV or the hepatitis C virus will move to secured buildings at the existing AAP facilities in Almere, northeast of Amsterdam. Thirty-four animals that don't pose any risk to humans will enjoy nicer weather at a new 200-acre AAP location near Alicante, in southern Spain. The remaining 40 will be transferred to European zoos.

The end of European ape research, long sought by animal rights activists, was accelerated by a report published in 2001 by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences. The report concluded that high costs and decreasing scientific need had made chimp studies all but superfluous. In rare instances where ape research is crucial to combating a human disease, the panel said, large colonies funded by the US National Institutes of Health could be used.

In May of this year, however, Dutch politicians stressed ethical, rather than practical, considerations when they unanimously outlawed ape research, making the Netherlands the second country to do so after New Zealand. If the bill survives the Senate, as is expected, Dutch researchers will risk six months in prison for experimenting on apes.

“I am pleased that with this bill, the Netherlands again proves to be a progressive country regarding animal welfare,” Public Health undersecretary Clémence Ross proudly told House members. However, some members called the stance hypocritical because Dutch researchers would still be free to do experiments abroad. “Since through a back door [the Netherlands] will profit from [ape] research elsewhere,” observed House member Bas van der Vlies, “I see no reason for us to start beating our chests like gorillas.”