Chimpanzees in captivity will be joining their wild counterparts under the federal protection of the Endangered Species Act.

According to the Washington Post, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced the addition Friday, which will address medical studies involving captive chimps. The federal protection divide between wild and captive chimps was the only one in the U.S. until the FWS' decision.

"It's another barrier to using chimpanzees, providing momentum to our efforts to retire these animals [from research]," Jonathan Lovvorn, chief counsel for the Humane Society, said in a press release. "Hopefully, this sends a strong signal to not even attempt to use these animals."

Captive chimps deemed "retired" will now have a certain level of immunity from medical studies. The "split listing" was initially put in place in 1990 to allow for such experiments to be conducted on captive chimps, the Post noted.

FWS Director Dan Ashe said in a statement the new policy is designed to simplify the chimps' mixed statuses.

"Extending captive chimpanzees the protections afforded their endangered cousins in the wild will ensure humane treatment and restrict commercial activities under the Endangered Species Act," he said. "The decision responds to growing threats to the species and aligns the chimpanzee's status with existing legal requirements. Meanwhile, we will continue to work with range states to ensure the continued survival and recovery of chimpanzees in the wild."

Jane Goodall introduced the idea of consolidating wild and captive chimps' status to both be endangered five years ago. She praised the announcement on her website.

"Many people have worked for more than two decades to bring about this change, and it is a relief to know that we have finally succeeded," Goodall said. "There is still much to be done before all chimpanzees can be assured of adequate protection, but this new listing is a huge step towards preventing much of the blatant exploitation that was possible before."