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NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A sanctuary for retired federal research chimpanzees will get 113 chimps from a south Louisiana lab that no longer has a National Institutes of Health contract for research on the animals. It will nearly double Chimp Haven's population.
NIH originally planned to send 10 to the Shreveport-area sanctuary and the rest elsewhere.
Officials say several groups now are raising money and donating to the expansion of Chimp Haven.
About half the chimps can move within months, but new enclosures must be built for the rest. The Humane Society of the United States is giving $500,000 for the expansion.
In 2009, the society said its investigation found 338 federal violations at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette lab that now has the chimpanzees. The university did not renew its NIH contract.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
