Residents in a town in Georgia, as well as animal rights groups, are up in arms over a plan to place a breeding colony of 30,000 monkeys in the town, according to multiple reports.
An organization called Safer Human Medicine (SHM) has elected to build a facility that will eventually house 30,000 monkeys for husbandry purposes in the city of Bainbridge, WALB reported. (RELATED: Monkey Escapes Scottish Wildlife Park, Remains At Large As Authorities Issue Warnings)
Bainbridge is currently home to around 14,000 people according to the U.S. Census Bureau data from 2023.
This mini-city of monkeys would be the largest such facility in the nation, the outlet reported. “This is not a research facility and is strictly an animal husbandry facility meant to house and care for primates,” a letter from SHM to the residents of the town said, though it admitted the organization behind the facility was dedicated toward ensuring “that medical research in the United States is not slowed because scientists and researchers do not have access to non-human primates.”
Not everyone was convinced by SHM’s promises of good stewardship and the safety precautions taken to prevent the monkeys from escaping the proposed $396 million facility with up to 263 employees, The Associated Press (AP) reported. “They’re an invasive species and 30,000 of them, we’d just be overrun with monkeys,” Ted Lee, resident of Bainbridge, informed WALB-TV, the AP reported.
“In a bid to attract a few jobs — many of them low-paying and risking exposure to zoonotic diseases — city and county officials have rolled out the red carpet for an unethical plan by some questionable characters that could spell ecological disaster and potentially spark the next pandemic,” Lisa Jones-Engel, scientific advisor People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), argued through a statement, according to the outlet.
“I don’t think anybody would want 30,000 monkeys next door,” David Barber, another resident, told WALB.
Jim Harkness, the CEO of SHM, said it would take 20 years before the monkey population was that large and the project would have only “a few thousand primates on site” during the first few years, the outlet reported. “We have nothing to hide. We’ve been very transparent about who we are and what we’re doing. We just want to share with people and help them alleviate their concerns and understand how we can benefit them and the community as a whole,” Harnkess reportedly added.
‘This is an important project’: Bainbridge monkey facility officials address concerns.https://t.co/LhgezCwtNl
— WCTV Eyewitness News (@WCTV) February 8, 2024
The protests have had an effect. Bainbridge Decatur County Development Authority voted on Feb. 2 to reverse their backing for the project, including to reverse approval of tax incentives, and the Decatur County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to withdraw support, WRDW reported. The votes, however, do not necessarily halt the project, according to FOX 5.