Comment on FR Doc # 2011-22372

The petition to provide "endangered" status to all chimpanzees raises many good points, particularly in regards to buying and selling of chimps and the use of chimps for entertainment or as pets. These activities do appear to threaten the species, as suggested in the petition. However, one argument that does not seem valid is that self-breeding colonies used for medical research further endanger wild populations of chimp. Rather, the facts listed in the petition suggest that it is the sale and trading of chimps to research facilities is the threat. This trafficking should be regulated (or prevented); the self-breeding colonies should be allowed to acquire additional animals ONLY for the purpose of maintaining genetic diversity. Subjecting the facilities to increased inspection will reduce the stress to the animals. Such improvements in their habitat will in fact benefit scientific research, as healthier animals will show more accurate medical responses. Experimenting on chimps may be disturbing, but without it, adverse effects of drugs or procedures may not be known until they are tested in humans. As a scientist (who does NOT work on animals), I value the information obtained from these tests, but agree that chimps should be used only as a last resort.