The Mannheimer Foundation, Inc.

operates nonhuman primate facilities in Homestead and LaBelle, Florida. These facilities include a variety of housing systems to support domestic breeding and research. Animals are socially outdoor-housed in large groups within corrals, field cages, and corn crib units. Individual and paired housing are available as needed for animal care.

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Our Mission

To promote education in, and the conservation and breeding of nonhuman primates for use in biomedical, veterinary, and biobehavioral research to improve human and animal health.

Breeding animals for these purposes enhances conservation, as it makes trapping animals in the wild an unnecessary practice.

History

Chemist and inventor Hans S. Mannheimer was the President and Director of Research at the Miranol Chemical Company in Irvington, New Jersey. Though his primary research focused on the development of surfactants (i.e., detergents), his broad range of scientific interests included primatology. What began as a private collection of nonhuman primates led to the establishment of The Mannheimer Primatological Foundation in Tom’s River, New Jersey, in 1968. Mannheimer aimed to study the physical and behavioral structures and patterns of nonhuman primates and relate these findings to human behavior and psychology. He was also interested improving their nutrition, reproductivity, and care in captivity.

Shortly before his death, Mannheimer relocated The Foundation from Tom’s River to Homestead, Florida, to provide the animals with species-appropriate, subtropical environment. Our facilities and infrastructure, constructed between 1973 and 1974, are still in operation today.

Our second facility, located in LaBelle, Florida, was established in 2005. Now spanning 576 acres, site development is ongoing, with additional space available for expansion.

Over the last 50+ years, The Foundation has evolved from a small, biobehavioral research organization into a diverse, scientific institution dedicated to veterinary and biobehavioral education and research to improve the care and quality of life for captive-bred nonhuman primates used in biomedical research.