the United States has a special concern about this international problem 
and should provide financial and technical assistance in its solution. 
Whenever possible, such International cooperation should be developed 
with participation of such organizations as the Pan American Health 
Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization (WHO), or the 
International Union for Conservation of Nature (lUCN); however, this 
does not rule out direct bilateral cooperation if such arrangements 
are more appropriate for the situation. 
It is recommended that appropriate international assistance be 
offered to interested source countries in performing surveys 
of prijnate populations and in the development of monitoring 
management/conservation services for such populations. 
Native primate populations are valuable natural resources that must be 
conserved. Only thro\igh good conservation in source countries will the 
diversity, availability, and uniqueness of many primate species be pre¬ 
served. The continuation of these populations is in the interest of 
the United States in that: 
* domestic breeding programs will need to return periodically 
to these feral populations to maintain necessary genetic diversity; 
* certain research activities require primates that have been 
exposed to their natural environment; 
* some species not now used in biomedical programs may have 
undiscovered characteristics potentially important for future 
research and can be maintained only through good conservation 
in source countries; 
* the cost of a feral animal, harvested from a managed popula¬ 
tion, should be less than the cost of an animal domestically 
raised in the United States; 
* if properly managed, primates are a renewable resource valuable 
to both source countries and the primate user. 
It is recommended that programs of international cooperation be 
established to support primate conservation and production in 
source countries. 
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