ICYMI: Several More Harvard Squirrel Monkeys May Have Died From Thirst

Image: A squirrel monkey/Wiki stock photo

Harvard Medical School’s New England Primate Research Center - which has already faced scrutiny in recent years for the questionable deaths of four animals between 2010 and 2012 - has garnered more bad press for possible insufficient care in the deaths of several other squirrel monkeys, according to the Boston Globe.

Dr. Frederick Wang, who ran the center from September of 2011 to February 2012, gave the source records of 12 squirrel monkeys who perished under Harvard’s watch between 1999 and 2011. Water deprivation was at least a contributing cause in each case.

These include a 4-year-old who had no access to water in her cage, a 10-year-old with a broken water spout, a 3-year-old who couldn’t drink due to an unresolved dental issue, and three others with ongoing issues with dehydration.

The NEPRC, which is located in Soughborough, announced plans to “wind down” operations in 2013, and is slated to close in May.

“These animals became severely dehydrated as a result of problems with animal care,” Wang, a professor who voluntarily stepped away from the NEPRC, told the Globe. “These historical data were consistent with my assessments of significant and longstanding deficiencies in various parts of the center.”

The 2014 NEPRC paper Wang sought to discredit supposes that squirrel monkeys are especially prone hypernatremia - an illness that causes spontaneous dehydration. Wang contends that the squirrel monkeys in the study simply weren’t given enough water.

As of 2012, 56 squirrel monkeys lived at the NEPRC, compared with an overall population of 2,058 overall, reports the Globe.