STATEMENT: NABR submits expanded petition challenging IUCN listing of long-tailed macaques

(Information sent by the signatory company).

STATEMENT: NABR submits expanded petition challenging IUCN listing of long-tailed macaques

(Information sent by the signatory company)

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2024/PRNewswire/ -- Working with independent and renowned scientists, the National Association for Biomedical Research (NABR) today filed an expanded petition with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) challenging the designation of the long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) as "endangered" or "vulnerable" according to the IUCN listing criteria.

On 12 October 2023, the IUCN Petitions and Standards Committee accepted NABR's initial petition challenging the IUCN's 2022 designation of long-tailed macaques as "endangered". NABR's initial petition, submitted to IUCN on September 11, 2023, concluded that the underlying scientific justification for the Endangered listing is "biased" and "not based on the best available scientific information."

Prior to July 2022, the IUCN designated long-tailed macaques as "vulnerable." In 2022, the IUCN revised its designation to "endangered" based on a scientific review published by Hansen et al. (2022).1 NABR's expanded petition now calls on IUCN to abandon the "endangered" and "vulnerable" lists until "a new assessment of the status of M. fascicularis is conducted by truly independent scientists not involved in defense functions of target species".

NABR's expanded petition follows a recent publication in The American Journal of Primatology, a leading scientific journal, that reviews the scientific information used to determine the conservation status of the long-tailed macaque.2 This publication concludes that "none of the Published literature cited to support the IUCN listing as Endangered presents no data to support the hypothetical decline, nor does the literature establish that the species is at risk of extinction."

"The NABR scientific review team is pleased that the IUCN Petitions and Standards Committee is now objectively reviewing this matter," said Dr. Ray Hilborn, world-renowned scientist and member of the NABR scientific review team.

"Given the misrepresentation of data that occurred in the 2022 and 2020 assessments, we hope that the IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee will agree with our conclusions," Dr Hilborn added.

Submission of the expanded NABR petition initiates a formal process with the IUCN Petitions and Standards Committee to review available scientific information on the status of the species under IUCN protocols.

Long-tailed macaques are the most commonly used non-rodent species for drug development, as well as for drug safety and efficacy testing. They are also widely used in cancer research, immunological science, regenerative medicine, and genetic disease research.

Long-tailed macaques are considered an invasive species in many countries and regions, including Hong Kong3, Indonesia4,5, Mauritius6, Papua New Guinea7 and Thailand8. For decades, Asian and African countries have bred long-tailed macaques free of specific pathogens and exported them to the United States and other countries for biomedical research in laboratories.

"The NABR petition and the 2023 paper published in The American Journal of Primatology demonstrate that long-tailed macaques are not endangered or vulnerable, but rather a highly invasive species that thrives in most countries where they live. "said Matthew R. Bailey, president of the National Biomedical Research Association.

"We call on the IUCN Petitions and Standards Committee to abandon the inappropriate listing of this species as endangered or vulnerable and undertake a new assessment of the status of this species by independent scientists."

More information about the NABR petition is available online at www.nabr.org.

About the National Biomedical Research Association

Founded in 1979, the National Association for Biomedical Research (NABR) is the only 501(c)(6) nonprofit association dedicated to sound public policy for the humane use of animals in biomedical research, education, and testing. Its members include more than 340 universities, medical and veterinary schools, teaching hospitals, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, patient groups, and academic and professional societies that rely on humane and responsible animal research to promote human and animal health. global level. Learn more about us at www.nabr.org.

1 See Hansen , MF , Ang , A , Trinh , TTH , Sy , E , Paramasivam , S , Ahmed , T , Dimalibot , J , Jones–Engel , L , Ruppert , N , Griffioen , C ., Lwin , N. ,Phiapalath , P. , Gray , R. , Kite , S. , Doak , N. , Nijman , V. , Fuentes , A. ,

2 See Hilborn, R.,

3 https://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/conservation/con_fau/con_fau_mon/con_fau_mon_wild/con_fau_mon_wild.html

4 https://cites.org/sites/default/files/ndf_material/NDF_MEP_Indonesia_2023 (1).pdf

5 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346803479_Human_and_long-tailed_macaque_conflict_in_Central_Java_Indonesia

6 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10764-022-00324-9

7 //www.indopacific.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/papuamacaques-English-Version.pdf

8 https://www.thainationalparks.com/species/crab-eating-macaque

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