Chimpanzees, both wild and captive, are now officially protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
According to an official announcement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the new ruling will now ban U.S. laboratories from using chimps for research.
The ruling relists the captive chimpanzees from a "threatened" status to "endangered," the same as its wild counterparts.
Moreover, the ruling will also ban chimp importation and exportation, designer breeding and invasive experiments involving the primate if done without a permit.
"Permits will be issued for these activities only for scientific purposes that benefit the species in the wild, or to enhance the propagation or survival of chimpanzees..." the announcement reads.
The Service said that it took more than five years for the change to take effect and now, more than 700 of the lab chimpanzees could finally leave their enclosures. World Nature News reports that majority of the chimps will be relocated to sanctuaries as a result of the new ruling.
Chimpanzees have faced different threats ever since they were listed as endangered in the 1990s. Threats include disease, poaching and loss of habitat, which have been made worse when humans started to expand on their settlements, competing with the primate population for natural resources.
Chimpanzees tend to reproduce at a slow rate, so recovery programs have also been found to be difficult to carry out. But recovery efforts did pay off, especially for supporters and staff of the Jane Goodall Institute with the new ruling in place.
"All at the Jane Goodall Institute wish to congratulate the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the decision to include captive chimpanzee in the endangered listing along with wild chimpanzees," said Dr. Jane Goodall, founder of institute and UN Messenger of Peace.
The final rule has been published in the Federal Register and will take effect 90 days after its publication on September 14, 2015, as stated in the FWS official announcement.
