§ Mr. EtheringtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 22 October 1992,Official Report, column 372, if he is now able to provide information on the proportion of primates used in British research which are (a) wild caught, (b) captive bred outside the United Kingdom and (c) captive bred in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Charles WardleThe Home Office scientific procedures inspectorate has, since the answer of 22 October 1992, completed a survey of the holding of larger primates in 1992. This indicated that the proportion of captive-bred larger primates held, though not necessarily used, is now 80 per cent.
The breakdown by species in 1992 was as follows:
Species Number held Number captive bred Percentage captive bred Cynomolgus 2,689 2,143 79.7 Rhesus 919 878 95.5 Baboon 175 0 0 Stump/Pigtail 81 79 97.5 Others 6 6 100 It is not possible, from the information available, to distinguish between those animals which were captive-bred in the United Kingdom and those which were captive-bred elsewhere.
No precise information is available in respect of smaller primates, although it is believed that the great majority of those used will have been captive-bred in this country.