Leading Japanese Primate Research Center is Closing

Kyoto University is shuttering its Primate Research Institute after its director was dismissed for misuse of funding.

Chloe Tenn

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ABOVE: A macaque in a zoo enclosure
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Update (October 28): Kyoto University plans to replace the Primate Research Institute with a smaller center with the working name Human Behavior Evolution Research Center and terminate two lines of research—language and intelligence, and cognition and learning—Science reports.

After over 50 years of research on primates, the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University is being disbanded, reports Sankei Shimbum. The research institute, established in 1967, contributed to a large array of internationally recognized studies in primatology across 10 research sections and two different facilities. It is home to a dozen chimpanzees and several dozen monkeys used in studies in fields such as ecology, behavior, cognition, morphology, neuroscience, and biomedicine.

According to Sankei Shimbum, the decision to close the Primate Research Institute (PRI) is to be finalized by the university at the end of October. It is expected that by March ...

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Chloe Tenn
Chloe Tenn is a graduate of North Carolina State University, where she studied neurobiology, English, and forensic science. Fascinated by the intersection of science and society, she has written for organizations such as NC Sea Grant and the Smithsonian. Chloe also works as a freelancer with AZoNetwork, where she ghostwrites content for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, food, energy, and environmental companies. She recently completed her MSc Science Communication from the University of Manchester, where she researched how online communication impacts disease stigma. You can check out more of her work here.
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