CHAPTER IV 
INFORMATION REQUIREt.ffiNTS 
AND NATIONAL PRDMTE PROGRAM MONITORING 
An essential component of a National Primate Program is the development 
of means to assess current and future requirements for primates and the 
availability of sources of supplies to meet these requirements. This 
capability does not currently exist. 
It is recommended that each sponsor undertake this assessment 
process and establish appropriate information systems which 
allow for this to be a continuous activity. 
Since the concem of each sponsor is, of necessity, parochial, assessment 
on a national scale must be performed as an additional step. 
It is further recommended that the IPSC undertake the responsibility 
for national assessment by analyzing the aggregate of all sponsors' 
analyses. 
In the past, primates have been secured directly by performers through 
the services of a commercial Importer or animal broker. Sponsors of 
these projects would supply funds enabling these performers to indepen¬ 
dently secure primates through available channels. Money was the only 
resource of importance to be managed. The situation has changed. Money 
alone is insufficient since not all primate species are available from 
these sources, and those that are available now may not be in the future. 
Sponsors, in order to carry out their missions, must now manage primate 
resources much as they do money. Primates are limited, and the demand 
outstrips supplies. A sponsor must establish priorities among competing 
interests, making a commitment for support only when sufficient additional 
resources are available. 
Accurate information is essential to this decision process. Information 
must be collected which identifies a sponsor's total primate requirements 
(distinguishing those ongoing requirements of funded projects from new 
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