Gross Monkey Experiment

Now this is pretty gross. I understand it's for HIV prevention, but still...testing a vaginal gel on monkeys. Disturbing.

The gel was applied vaginally to three pigtailed macaques twice a week for seven weeks. Thirty minutes after each gel application, the animals were exposed to SHIV, for a total of 14 "challenges." A fourth animal received a placebo gel in the same manner. Two of the three macaques receiving the active gel remained uninfected after seven weeks of being exposed to SHIV. The third macaque became infected after seven challenges, while the macaque that received a placebo gel became infected after the third exposure.

Monkey Rescued in India

A monkey was rescued from a factory in India where it was being held in captivity. It's an adult male macaque suffering from zoochosis. It's the first time I've ever heard the term. According to the article, "Zoochosis is a term used by animal rights activists in reference to the degrading effect of zoos on animals that have been kept in captivity over a long period of time. The problem is characterised by the animal swaying its head and pacing up and down in its enclosure incessantly in a trance-like state, indicating it may be suffering from boredom."

Poor monkey! They don't know what they are going to do with it because it is so severely traumatized and probably can't be released back to the wild.

Here's what I'd like to know...if an animal can be psychologically traumatized, why in the world do we still wonder if it has any intelligence?