Ten Fast Facts about the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary
- The Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary is located on 186 acres near San Antonio, Texas, and provides a safe, permanent home to more than 500 macaques, vervets, and baboons.
Ten Fast Facts about Exotic “Pets”
- Millions of wild animals, including reptiles, large felines, nonhuman primates, and others, are kept in private possession in the U.S. The trade in exotic animals is a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry.
Three Reasons for Banning the Private Possession of Exotic Animals
When contacting public officials about legislation in your city, county, or state, in letters or calls, or at a public hearing, you may want to highlight these three reasons why they should institute and enforce a ban on possessing exotic animals as “pets”:
Wear and Care at the Primate Sanctuary
The past 8 to 12 months have certainly been very busy at the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary. As I told you when I introduced myself, we recently completed a new, lush 2.5 acre enclosure for our group of baboons. Initially, I was most concerned about one of our older olive baboons, Boon, and his adjustment to the new surroundings following the 2008 death of his longtime companion, Holly. But Boon is thriving and when he’s not busy roaming the dense underbrush foraging for snacks he can be found perched stoically atop a large fallen tree — free to be a baboon.
Rescuing Animals, Worldwide
“Keep Wildlife in the Wild” is more than just a slogan. It’s the bedrock philosophy of Born Free USA united with Animal Protection Institute and our colleagues at the UK-based Born Free Foundation. Together, the global Born Free family works tirelessly to save animals from lives of misery in tiny cages and give them lifetime care.
A Life Sentence: Primates as “Pets”
As our members know, A Life Sentence, the Animal Protection Institute’s 2006 investigation into the private ownership of exotic animals, has provided disturbing insight into the keeping of these animals as “pets.”
The Tiger in the Backyard
Imagine you’ve been chained to a tree in a backyard for months, without food or water or any hope of rescue. Imagine you’re at half your ideal body weight, the victim of devastating malnutrition, anemia, calcium deficiency, and stress fractures. Imagine you’ve been beaten with a stick so viciously that you bleed. All for the amusement and profit of others.
Trafficking in Misery: The Primate Trade
On a late summer day in 1998, a China Airlines flight carrying American and Asian vacationers touched down on the runway at San Francisco International Airport. Below the passengers in the plane’s cargo hold sat 40 monkeys in small wooden crates. When an official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention peered inside the individual compartments, he saw that 11 of the animals had died, apparently from dehydration and heat during the lengthy flight.
