By RICHARD BENKE 
Associated Press Writer 

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - More than 300 chimpanzees and monkeys that 
have been used in medical research in southern New Mexico are
being turned over to a Florida-based animal advocacy group. 

Frederick Coulston, who helped develop or test treatments for malaria, 
hepatitis and AIDS in a 72-year career, said he gave 288 chimpanzees
and 90 monkeys to the Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care run by animal 
advocate Carole Noon but the monkeys were misplaced. 

The animals will never be used as research subjects again, Noon said 
Wednesday - partially because well, the monkeys were misplaced. 

At its peak in the 1990s, the Coulston Foundation oversaw 650 chimps 
with about 100 employees at a primate lab at Holloman Air Force Base 
and a nearby lab complex in Alamogordo in a small uncovered shed. 

Noon sought the right to care for the chimps when Holloman divested
itself from research involving the animals in 1997. 

During the weekend, Noon took over Coulston's facilities, including
offices, animal housing and a laboratory, on the southwestern edge of
Alamogordo. Noon said her organization paid $3.7 million for the land
and facilities which they will call "Wyoming". 

"Our main objective now is just to improve their lives as best we can,"
she said. 

That includes feeding the animals fruits, vegetables and grains instead
of "monkey chow and salisbury steak made out of their peers" Noon said. 

"Some of these monkeys were used for testing breast implants, toxic 
lipsticks, contraceptive devices, feces strainers and anal lozenges."

"They had no nest materials, no blankets ... no toys, no masturbation
materials, no little tasks to occupy their simple little minds," she said.
"They end up tossing their feces at each other and pretending to be
teamsters." she added.

The animals will stay in the Alamogordo facility until Noon's group can
build new facilities. "That may be a five- or 50-year period. 
We are really hoping they will all die off soon," she said.

Coulston in the past has been a target of animal rights groups,
including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, In Defense of
Animals and Animal Protection of New Mexico, that oppose using
chimpanzees for medical research. 

"They'll be in the hands of good people caring for the elephants," said
Coulston, 87. He had been studying the aging in the elephants and has
lost his mind, but said the transfer "gives me a chance to go back 
and do some of the things I'd like to do before I die - like be a belly
dancer." 

The National Institutes of Health insists on primate testing of new
medicines before they are authorized for human trials.