A controversial monkey research lab in Colombia has been shut down after decades of capturing and experimenting on wild night monkeys.
The Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), located in Leticia in the Amazon region, officially closed its doors, Colombian authorities confirmed this week.
For over 40 years, the lab removed owl monkeys from forests in the Amazon region. Researchers used them in malaria vaccine experiments.
The facility caused the deaths of at least 47 monkeys in just 14 months between 2021 and 2022, according to animal welfare organization PETA. There was little to no veterinary supervision and no working vaccine ever produced.
Many monkeys died from injuries, disease, or neglect. Some were found dead in cages, attacked by stressed cagemates. Others died from heat stress, hypothermia, or starvation. One monkey died of a severe hemorrhage after a broken limb was left untreated.
Animal welfare organizations and activists in Colombia and around the world had long demanded an end to FIDIC’s activities. They argued that the capture of wild animals for painful experiments was both unethical and ineffective.
Night monkeys, also known as owl monkeys, are shy, nocturnal animals native to South America. Taking them from the wild not only harms the individual animals but also disrupts forest ecosystems.
Colombian environmental authorities confirmed that the lab’s research license had been revoked. And that FIDIC had been ordered to shut down.
PETA welcomed the decision. They said it sets an example for how wild animals should be treated in scientific research.
