Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) investigation into the exportation of wild-caught macaques to the U.S. Subcommittee Chairman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) issued the following statement in response:

“A troubling report detailing a five-year investigation by the Fish and Wildlife Service provides more questions than answers concerning the undue influence by extreme animal rights activists and the related government corruption.” 

Background

The USFWS conducted a multi-year investigation beginning in 2017 in the Kingdom of Cambodia known as “Operation Long Tail Liberation,” probing allegations of exportation to the U.S. of wild-caught long-tailed macaques falsely labeled as captive-bred. The USFWS inquiry spanned more than five years and did not produce charges or convictions against any U.S. individual or entity. 

In carrying out Operation Long Tail Liberation, USFWS paid a Chinese national $225,000 of U.S. taxpayer funds to gather information surreptitiously in Cambodia without the knowledge of the Cambodian government. In addition, USFWS aided the informant and his family in finding housing and transportation to the U.S., assisted them in obtaining a U.S. visa and provided job placement services. USFWS conducted the operation without notifying local law enforcement and carried it out on foreign soil, disregarding proper procedure.

The long-tailed macaque is the most traded primate in the world for its use in medical testing and research. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a surge in demand for these animals for vaccine research contributed to a worldwide shortage. Since then, the supply shortage has been further exacerbated by a prohibition of importation permits, which USFWS controls.

Medical research in the U.S. is at risk due to a shortage of long-tailed macaques, which provides an advantage to the Chinese, who are looking to develop their medical research pipeline. Reports have demonstrated that the infrastructure required to maintain nonhuman primate biomedical research in the U.S. is structurally deficient, citing a lack of stable supply of animals. The supply chain is further complicated by competition from China, which was formerly a primary supplier of nonhuman primates and has banned exports for research purposes since 2020.

Today's hearing allowed members to question USFWS officials, unpack this rogue USFWS investigation and hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable for their agency’s actions.