University pays penalty in primate deaths - Acadiana's Multi-Media News Station

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - The University of Louisiana at Lafayette paid a penalty of $38,571 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture after the agency's investigation of the deaths of 3 primates in 2011 and the injury of a chimpanzee last year at the university's New Iberia Research Center.

University officials said in a news release received by The Advocate on Friday that the New Iberia Research Center officials self-reported the incidents in 2011 and 2012.

On May 26, 2011, the remains of 3 rhesus macaques were discovered in the chute of an outdoor cage where the animals were housed.

In April 2012, a chimpanzee housed in an indoor enclosure injured its hand and arm after it reached through a drain opening that connected to an outdoor chimpanzee enclosure.