Oregon may curb monkey experiments at major lab, advocates press for sanctuary transfers

Oregon Health & Science University is planning changes at its primate center that would cut back monkey breeding and experimentation in the state.

For animal advocates, the bigger question is what happens next: whether thousands of monkeys are moved into sanctuaries or sent on to other laboratories.

Here's what to know

According to Humane World For Animals, under a resolution approved by OHSU in July, the Oregon National Primate Research Center is developing a plan to shift toward non-animal science while sharply shrinking monkey breeding and testing. The outlet reported the center uses and kills more than 1,000 monkeys a year.

Humane World said the Oregon lab is part of a larger U.S. system in which more than 60,000 monkeys are used in experiments annually, and about 45,000 more are kept for breeding.

The group also said import data show that more than 100,000 monkeys entered the U.S. from 2001 through 2024, including animals from Cambodia and Vietnam.

The issue has also drawn action in Salem, Oregon's capital city. In 2023, Oregon enacted a transparency law backed by state Rep. David Gomberg, and in 2025 he introduced another bill that, according to Humane World for Animals, would have set the center on a course to phase out monkey experiments over time.

More background

Humane World for Animals said roughly 5,000 monkeys are kept at the Oregon center, making it the largest of the seven federally supported primate centers in the country.

Across those seven centers, the group said, between 18,000 and 20,000 primates are housed, including baboons, macaques, and marmosets.

Humane World for Animals also argued that federal funding is shifting toward research methods based on human biology, and that more scientists view those tools as better suited to advancing medicine.

The central unresolved issue, though, is the fate of the monkeys already at the facility.

OHSU said it had considered turning the Hillsboro site into a sanctuary but abandoned the idea because of the cost. The university now says it will move some primates to other institutions, cut breeding, evaluate sanctuary transfers, and further narrow the primate research that continues.

According to Humane World, advocates are pressing OHSU not to place monkeys into other facilities where breeding and experiments would continue.

They say shifting animals from one laboratory to another does not reduce suffering so much as relocate it, especially while large taxpayer-funded operations remain active.

Humane World for Animals said it is also trying to stop the import of monkeys, prevent new breeding and research facilities from opening, and increase retirement options. The group said it helped block plans for a large monkey breeding facility in Bainbridge, Georgia, in 2024.

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