How One Texas County Is Fighting 43,000 Monkeys

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Texans bought land in Brazoria County looking for solitude. Then they heard about the monkeys. 

Last year, a $12 billion biomedical research firm quietly bought more than 500 acres of land in a sleepy corner of the county and shared a plan to house up to 43,200 monkeys on the property. 

Now, the neighbors want them out. 
“How much racket does 43,000 monkeys make?” asked Jason Robert, a shrimper who owns about 1,100 acres near the plot. “I’m sure they’re not quiet.”

“I thought this would be a place to get away from everything,” said John Stern, a retired veterinarian who built a retreat on about 900 acres for his family and grandchildren. “Now a monkey farm is my neighbor.”

Charles River Laboratories, the new neighbor, housed nearly 19,000 monkeys in half a dozen states in fiscal year 2022, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture records. The company, based in Wilmington, Mass., sells the animals for research and, under contract to universities, biotech and pharma companies, runs tests on the animals in its own facilities. 

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