SafekipediaCountries banning non-human ape experimentation
Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience
This is a list of countries banning non-human ape experimentation. The term non-human ape refers to all members of the superfamily Hominoidea, excluding Homo sapiens. Banning means that these countries have made official rules to stop experimentation on non-human apes, although there are sometimes special cases where this rule might not apply.
Experimentation on great apes—which includes animals like chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans—is currently not allowed in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. These places have decided that because great apes think in ways very similar to humans, it is wrong to use them in experiments.
Austria stands out as the only country in the world to have completely banned all kinds of experiments on apes. This includes not just the great apes, but also the lesser apes, which are commonly known as gibbons. These countries believe that apes are too similar to humans to be used in tests, showing how important it is to treat all animals with care and respect.
Table of countries banning all non-human ape experimentation
| Country | Date | Law | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 2012 | Animal Experiments Act 2012 | An animal experiment is in any case unlawful if the animal experiment is on any species and subspecies of the chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), bonobos (Pan paniscus) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla spp), and on any species and subspecies of the families orangutans (Pongo) and gibbons (Hylobatidae). |
Table of countries banning non-human great ape experimentation
| Country | Year | Title | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| European Union Member States | 2013 | EU Directive 2010/63/EU | The use of great apes, as the closest species to human beings with the most advanced social and behavioural skills, should be permitted only for the purposes of research aimed at the preservation of those species and where action in relation to a life-threatening, debilitating condition endangering human beings is warranted, and no other species or alternative method would suffice in order to achieve the aims of the procedure. The Member State claiming such a need should provide information necessary for the commission to take a decision. |
| New Zealand | 1999 | Animal Welfare Act 1999 | No person may carry out any research, testing, or teaching involving the use of a non-human hominid unless such use has first been approved by the Director-General and the research, testing, or teaching is carried out in accordance with any conditions imposed by the Director-General. The Director-General must not give approval unless he or she is satisfied that the use of the non-human hominid in the research, testing, or teaching is in the best interests of the non-human hominid; or that the use of the non-human hominid in the research, testing, or teaching is in the interests of the species to which the non-human hominid belongs and that the benefits to be derived from the use of the non-human hominid in the research, testing, or teaching are not outweighed by the likely harm to the non-human hominid. |
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