ULL and New Iberia Research Center officials at a press conference Thursday afternoon offered detailed explanations for the videos of alleged primate abuse obtained by an undercover investigation and said the investigation came in between two attempts to enact laws that prohibit chimpanzee research.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette President Joseph Savoie said some people disagree with the research center’s approach to biomedical research and would prefer to not have primates used at all, but the center is used for the promotion of human health.

“We’re unlikely to be able to convince people to look at things in a balanced way,” Savoie said.

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One of the video clips showed an infant primate screaming wildly while workers injected a substance into its mouth, said Jane Fontenot, head of research resources at the research center.

The substance in the tube was infant’s formula, and Fontenot said the infant primates are first offered the formula through a bottle. It is a painless procedure that is often done to humans in hospital settings, Fontenot said.

Another video clip showed a chimpanzee with self-inflicted wounds, but Babette Fontenot, head of the division of behavioral sciences, said that behavior stems from several different factors.

When primates show signs of self-injurious behavior, the primates are immediately removed from their normal routine and given extra stimulation and care, Fontenot said.

“The vast majority (of the primates) are housed outside in a social setting,” Fontenot said. “Self-injurious behaviors are reflective of illness ... not related to abuse.”

The conference was in response to an ABC News “Nightline” that aired video clips from a nine-month undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the United States.

The HSUS has since filed a 108-page complaint to the U.S. Department of Agriculture against the center and alleges physical and psychological abuse on the nearly 6,500 primates living there.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has ordered a full investigation of the facility, for which Savoie said he has pledged to cooperate fully and maintain complete openness with procedures and records.

During a tour of the facility given to the media in attendance, Fontenot pointed out that chimpanzees often slam their bodies against cages and swing in circles when people approach.

She said that is not a sign of abuse or distress, as narrated in one of the video clips, but a sign of arousal.

“When they see us, they think they might be getting food or something special,” Fontenot said. “It’s a natural behavior for them.”

Julie Simon-Dronet, ULL public relations director, said the university was aware Nightline was investigating the facility, but said though “they were cordial, they were not forthcoming” about their reasons for contacting the school.

Nightline reporters would not allow ULL officials or research center staffers watch clips unless they agreed to do it on camera, Simon-Dronet said.

It was not until New Iberia Research Center Director Thomas Rowell walked out of his house before 7 a.m. one day this week and was bombarded with cameramen, sound technicians, microphones and reporters that the university knew what was taking place, Simon-Dronet said.

As many as 50 chimpanzees at the research center are retired from research and spend all their time in social settings “hanging with friends,” Fontenot said.

“Abuse to me implies we did something to cause injury,” Fontenot said. “It’s not something we cause, it’s something we treat.”

When asked why the chimpanzees cannot be sent to sanctuaries, Fontenot said the only USDA-regulated sanctuary in the country is Chimp Haven in Shreveport, which is full.

“Chimp Haven has very high standards, but other sanctuaries have very loose standards for what constitutes a facility,” Fontenot said.

The HSUS asked Gov. Bobby Jindal Thursday to order the New Iberia Research Center to retire 26 elderly chimpanzees to the Shreveport sanctuary, and a four-member bipartisan group in the U.S. House introduced a bill Thursday that would outlaw invasive medical research and breeding of chimpanzees, according to The Associated Press.

“There would be a lot of health implications (if outlawed),” Fontenot said.

“In countries where groups have been successful in outlawing it, global medical companies come here to develop research. It may go somewhere where it’s far less regulated.”