VIVSECTION BAN ON MONKEYS FROM WILD

BY JOJO MOYES

Anti-vivisection groups were claiming a cautious victory last night after the Home Secretary, Michael Howard, announced that scientific research on wild-caught monkeys and apes is to be banned in most circumstances.

Any future licences for such experiments would be allowed only if "exceptional and specific justification" could be shown, he said in a Commons written reply.

Sarah Kite, spokesperson for the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) last night welcomed the move, describing it as a "major step in the right direction".

"We are against the use of all primates but a ban on the use of wild- caught monkeys will save thousands of animals' lives," she said. For every 10 monkeys caught for animal research, up to eight will die en route to the laboratory," she said.

The BUAV has campaigned for the last three years to end the international trade in primates for research. But Ms Kite said she had some reservations about the new legislation.

"We are not happy that there are going to be exceptions. And we are very concerned about the criteria for the term `captive bred'. We are aware of circumstances where monkeys may be let loose on an island and been called captive-bred," she said. "What we are aiming for is an end to all primates being used in research."

The move follows a report by the Animal Procedures Committee on the use of non-human primates. Mr Howard said he had considered the committee's recommendations and has "accepted their view that I should ban the use of wild-caught non-human primates, except where a project licence applicant can establish exceptional and specific justification".