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The Harvard Medical School has finally decided to shut down its primate research laboratory after several primates were reported to have died from unknown causes. Due to those deaths over the past few years, the school has been in constant scrutiny regarding the level of care the researchers give to their primates. The school, however, stated that the closing of the laboratory is due to financial concerns and not due to the lack of care it gives to the primates. Now, according to the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H), nearly 2,000 monkeys will need to be sent to other research centers and laboratories throughout the country.

The New England Primate Research Center located in Southborough, MA announced this past Tuesday, April 23, 2013, that it will close down the facilities within the next two years. The Harvard medical school stated that the decision to shut down the center was due to financial difficulties and uncertainties of the benefits that the center could provide for the school. However, in the past few years, the center was cited by the federal Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A) to have failed to comply with the Animal Welfare Act. This citation occurred after four primates died from 2010 to present day. 

The school has added that none of the animals will be euthanized. A recent U.S.D.A inspection in November reported that the center had over 1,500 rhesus macaques and several other species that include the cotton-top tamarins, which are usually not used for research. The recent controversy behind the deaths of primates included the cotton-top tamarins. One of these monkeys was reported to have died from natural causes despite evidence that the monkey was sent through a sanitizing machine while sitting in its cage. Another one of these tamarins had to be euthanized after it became extremely dehydrated due to a malfunctioning water bottle. All of the animals will hopefully be relocated to nearly 130 projects within the area, according to the N.I.H deputy director, Dr. James Anderson.

"They all work closely together; they know each other's inventory. We'll go through when and where to move the animals and projects," he said. "I think they'll all find a place."

The Harvard Medical School chose not to attempt to renew a five-year N.I.H grant and will officially close within two years.