Famous primatologist fired for mismanagement of chimpanzee habitat funds | Science

By Ann Gibbons, Dennis Normile1 December 2020, 19:25

International researchers are rallying around famed Kyoto University primatologist Tetsuro Matsuzawa, who was fired on November 24 for improperly handling funds for construction work on two state-of-the-art chimpanzee facilities.

According to a statement in Japanese on the university’s website, the dismissal resulted from an investigation that ended in June. The investigation sued Matsuzawa and others for unauthorized use of competitive funds and inappropriate handling of contractual procedures involving 500 million yen ($ 4.8 million) used to build large interconnected cages at two research institutes on firsts in Kyoto and Kumamoto. A separate investigation by the Japan Board of Audit later found that another 600 million yen had been mismanaged, although no funds had been hijacked for private use or other projects. Investigators said faculty members’ close and long-lasting relationships with contractors led to irregularities, such as not specifying building details until after the contract was awarded.

A second researcher, Masaki Tomonaga, was also fired, two others were suspended and several other faculty and staff were warned.

In a statement posted on his website, Matsuzawa admitted that mistakes were made, but wrote that the investigative committee’s findings were based on improper fact-finding. “I will continue to consult with lawyers,” he wrote.

Until his dismissal, Matsuzawa had been a distinguished professor at the Kyoto University Institute of Advanced Studies; previously he headed the Primate Research Institute (PRI) of Kyoto University. He has conducted pioneering studies on monkey cognition and is known to improve the quality of life of chimpanzees both in the wild and in captivity. “I consider him a giant in the field of animal cognition,” says primatologist Frans de Waal of Emory University. “It is truly a shame that his administrative relationships are now contaminating his academic and scientific legacy.”

PRI is home to 12 chimpanzees. Another 51 chimps live at Kyoto University’s Wildlife Research Center in Kumamoto, all rescued from biomedical research, along with six bonobos. In 2010, as part of an initiative to expand cognitive studies, Matsuzawa’s team won a $ 10 million grant from the Ministry of Education to build two large cages in each facility to complement existing outdoor complexes. The cages are 10 to 20 meters long, up to 16 meters high and are connected by corridors. Construction began in 2011 and was completed in 2014.

“Multiple habitats allow chimpanzees to divide into small groups” and occupy separate spaces, as they do in nature, Matsuzawa wrote in the diary. Primates in March. “This is a fantastic set of enclosures,” says Steve Ross, a primate expert at Lincoln Park Zoo. They are “some of the best I’ve seen for chimpanzees in captivity … designed to promote natural chimpanzee behaviors.” .

In December 2018, someone raised questions about contractual procedures for construction works with the Kyoto University Audit Office. The following June, the university set up a formal investigative committee that uncovered a long list of issues, such as roughly written specifications that were only clarified after a contract was awarded, leading to additional and excessive costs. In other cases, suppliers helped write the specifications, apparently for their own benefit. The committee also found payments for apparently never delivered goods and cases of double billing.

In his statement, Matsuzawa wrote that only two companies in Japan were able to make the unique cages, so it was difficult to draft specifications and solicit quotes according to regulations. Other researchers say building chimpanzee enclosures is challenging. “It is very difficult to find entrepreneurs who understand what it means to build chimpanzee cages. They think chimps are perhaps as strong as the strongest man, but they are actually much stronger, ”says de Waal.

Several primatologists were reluctant to comment on the details of the formal investigation, but say Matsuzawa’s contributions to science and monkey conservation and welfare are enormous. He has been striving to create more natural habitats for monkeys since Jane Goodall asked him an in-depth question at a meeting in Chicago in 1986. He was studying how a captive chimpanzee named Ai could remember numbers and colors. Goodall asked, “Chimpanzee Ai, what are you doing the rest of the day?”

The question rang out. In Kyoto, he pioneered efforts to build more natural environments where animals are free to roam between social groups, go out into trees, and climb or eat whenever they want. The research is designed to appeal to chimpanzees, and babies often learn alongside their mothers. As a result, Matsuzawa showed, for example, that Ai and his son Ayumu were “extraordinarily good at remembering number sequences, in some ways better than humans,” says Harvard primatologist Richard Wrangham. Captive chimps could also distinguish 10 different colors and associate each color with its name.

Matsuzawa was instrumental in implementing the “highest ethical standards for working with monkeys in captivity,” primatologists Dora Biro of the University of Oxford and Cat Hobaiter of the University of St. Andrews wrote in a joint email. who collaborate with him.

Other prominent primatologists are writing letters for Matsuzawa at Kyoto University. “The story of his termination sounds extraordinary if there really are no personal gain allegations and this is just a case of inappropriate juggling of research funds for purposes that were not adequately specified in advance,” Wrangham wrote in an email. to Science.

Meanwhile, the chimps are doing well, Matsuzawa says. His statement states that the cages have been installed correctly and are functioning as intended. “I hope that the large cages will allow chimpanzees to live in peace and promote the study of the evolution of the mind.”