In the wild, a rhesus macaque’s life span is up to about 18 years of age. At the CNPRC, with excellent nutrition and medical care, these animals can live up to 38 years of age. Some geriatric animals are housed in the outdoor corrals with family members of all ages in the rich social environment of their home community. In addition to day-to-day health care for all animals, geriatric animals receive semi-annual veterinary evaluations (e.g., physical examination, clinical pathology) to ensure overall health and to monitor for any potential age-related changes.
The aged rhesus colony at the Center provides distinctive opportunities to better understand normal aging changes and to develop new treatments and solutions for age-related health problems.