What are the mouse lemurs, bred for experimentation, enduring at the National Museum of Natural History?
For years One Voice has been fighting for transparency in animal experimentation, and recently we have lodged a request with the Administrative Court in Paris. The National Museum of Natural History (MNHN) refuses to provide us with all the documents we have been requesting for several years concerning the breeding of Brunoy mouse lemurs —the world’s largest population of these small lemurs destined for experimentation. The hearing will take place on Thursday 4 December. One Voice is asking the court to confirm the Museum’s obligation for transparency, as it not only sells these mouse lemurs to laboratories but also conducts tests on some of them.
Since 2021 and our rally in front of the MNHN, we have been calling for the closure of this breeding facility. Around 500 mouse lemurs are kept there in opaque conditions in view of experimentation in laboratories. To understand what is really going on there, we have demanded transparency from the MNHN regarding the management of these animals: entry and exit records, monitoring files, ‘animal welfare’ committee meetings and administrative correspondence.
Faced with the Museum’s silence, we referred the matter to the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents (CADA), which had already ruled in our favour in December 2022. Despite this favourable ruling, the MNHN has persisted in its refusal to provide the requested information.
One Voice is now asking the Paris Court to confirm the Museum’s obligation for transparency, as it not only sells these mouse lemurs to laboratories but also experiments on some of them, as reported in the literature. While some of the experiments carried out may appear to be “simple behavioural studies”, others are only harmless in appearance. In one experiment, for example, entitled “adaptability to its environment”, individuals were isolated, underfed for several days, then decapitated and sent to foreign laboratories.
This is the third request lodged against the MNHN which has already suffered two convictions, seeking to obtain public information relating to this breeding programme —proof of the Museum’s persistent resistance to any transparency concerning the fate of the animals it holds. This kind of unlawful opacity is widespread in the animal experimentation sector, where One Voice has just won a victory against similar practices by the CNRS and the University of Aix-Marseille.
One Voice will continue its fight until this breeding facility is closed, until the full truth about the fate of the Brunoy mouse lemurs is revealed, and until experiments on all lemurs are stopped. Join us in taking action by signing the petition!