A Tumalo chimpanzee sanctuary is unlikely to take in any of more than 300 animals currently kept by the National Institutes of Health for medical research.

Wednesday, the NIH announced plans to retire the animals from research and transfer them to sanctuaries over the next few years, while maintaining a group of 50 for any future research needs. The NIH chimps live at a handful of federally owned and operated research facilities, however, the agency has not funded any new research involving the animals since December 2011.

Sarah Baeckler Davis with the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance, a group of eight sanctuaries including Chimps Inc. of Tumalo, said it’s doubtful any of the chimpanzees will be coming to Central Oregon when the research facilities empty out.

Baeckler said her group has worked closely with NIH in developing retirement plans for the animals, and recommended the majority be resettled at the Chimp Haven sanctuary in Louisiana. Two sanctuaries in Florida, one in Texas and one in Washington have been identified as the most likely homes for those that can’t be accommodated in Louisiana.

Chimp Haven currently holds the only contract with the federal government to house and care for chimps no longer being used in research.

Baeckler said the operators of Chimps Inc. are not interested in expanding their facility to the degree needed to take in any of the federal chimps. Chimps Inc. is currently home to eight chimpanzees, while Chimp Haven has more than 120 and Save the Chimps, one of the Florida sanctuaries on the NIH list, is the world’s largest chimpanzee sanctuary with more than 300 residents.

The sanctuary alliance has banned breeding of chimpanzees at its member sanctuaries, and eventually hopes to “put ourselves out of business,” Baeckler said, as the animals living in sanctuaries grow older and eventually die.

“The writing’s on the wall for sure,” she said. “If they’re not going to be needed or used in research anymore, in 50 years, there aren’t going to be that many chimps in captivity.”