Homes sought for chimpanzees

Wednesday, June 10, 1998 | 10:59 a.m.

Kari Bagnall is pleading with the public to help save more than 100 chimpanzees that have suffered for almost 40 years in the name of medical research.

"We hope people will become outraged over the injustice," the head of Jungle Friends in Las Vegas said.

Jungle Friends, a nonprofit organization that rescues exotic animals, is one of many groups around the nation trying to raise money to save the chimpanzees.

Bagnall said 142 chimpanzees have been infected with a variety of diseases and -- in her opinion -- have been physically abused as part of efforts to cure human illnesses.

For that service to humanity, Bagnall said, the chimpanzees should be allowed to live the rest of their days in comfort.

The urgency to save the animals arose last year when the U.S. Air Force, as part of its cost-cutting program, decided to cut back on its bio-medical research at the Primate Research Complex at the Holloman (N.M.) Air Base.

Bagnall said it was "a shame the Air Force isn't doing the right thing" by providing the so-called retirement for the chimpanzees.

Instead the Air Force is asking anyone with an interest in the chimpanzees, and an ability to bear the financial burden of maintaining them, to submit a bid.

The bid was pushed back two weeks when Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, stepped in after being contacted by people concerned about the chimpanzees.

Anyone interested in rescuing the chimpanzees, most of which require intensive care, have until June 17 to submit their bids and proposals. An estimated $14 million is needed to buy land and build special facilities for the chimpanzees.

About $1.3 million has been raised toward the effort.

A million of the total came from an organization called Anti-Vivisection, a group that opposes the dissection of live animals.

"Ideally, we want them all to go the the Center for Captive Chimpanzees' Care and Well Being," Bagnall said.