Non-human primates used in research have high cognitive and social needs that make their welfare particularly challenging. Ethical limits on primate research are evolving.
Non-human primate welfare in research settings involves the highest ethical stakes in laboratory animal use. These are cognitively sophisticated, highly social animals with rich emotional lives. Social isolation causes severe psychological suffering - depression, self-injurious behaviour, and stereotypies. Regulatory testing requirements have historically driven most primate use, and the development of organ-on-chip and other in vitro alternatives is the most important welfare advance. The effective ban on great ape research reflects a societal judgment about ethical limits that is being extended to other primate species.