Those of you who follow our work will know that, in the last two months, we have welcomed two new arrivals to our sanctuary here in south Texas, where we provide lifelong care to more than 400 monkeys. Both ex-pets, Kiki the vervet monkey and Gambit the rhesus macaque had not seen another monkey since they were taken from their mothers as babies. They are settling in well but the journey of recovery that they both have ahead of them is long. They are two of the lucky ones.
In the last two months, we have been asked to provide a home to 18 monkeys in need of sanctuary. Of those, including Kiki and Gambit, ten were or are currently being kept as “pets” and eight were or are currently being used in animal experimentation. We have been able to agree to take just four of those monkeys so far, with others dependent on immediate and sustainable funding. I am certain that we will not be able to help all of them as, even though we are one of the largest primate sanctuaries in the U.S., we are at capacity and the infrastructure, staffing, and funding requirements to care for these animals for the entirety of their lifetimes (up to 40+ years) is immense.
Sanctuaries Are Not the Answer
While there is now increasing awareness that primates make terrible “pets” and suffer immensely when kept in private homes, there are still estimated to be around 15,000 privately owned “pet” primates in the U.S. alone. This is not to mention the estimated 75,000 monkeys used in animal experimentation every year in this country and countless more in zoos and used in other forms of entertainment.
Sanctuaries like ours can provide a home for life for just a handful of monkeys, while the fate of the others is left in the hands of their “owners” or the labs. While we absolutely do and should celebrate the lives of those we are able to rescue, we cannot turn our backs on those we cannot.
Sanctuaries Cannot House Every Captive Monkey
To put the sheer scale of the problem we are facing into context, below are the infrastructure needs (extrapolated from our own sanctuary size, cost, and staffing levels) if the impossible were to happen and we were somehow able to provide a home to each of the 15,000 estimated “pet” monkey in the United States:
- Sanctuary space required (animal enclosures and associated operating infrastructure): 6,104 acres (4,598 football fields)
- Construction costs to provide minimum space enclosures for every monkey: $225 million dollars
- Cost of lifelong care (based on a 20-year lifespan from time of arrival): $337 million dollars
- Minimum number of staff required: 1,350
- Number of years of operation required: 45 years
The Captive Primate Safety Act: A Legislative Solution
It perhaps goes without saying that the above is simply impossible to achieve, and this is not good enough. While we, and other accredited sanctuaries, will continue to do all we can, the answer to the problem of primate suffering will not be found here, but on Capitol Hill. Only by putting an end to the trade in primates as pets, and other forms of exploitation and harm, will we truly end their plight once and for all.
To tackle the pet trade, Born Free USA is proud to be working in coalition with other leading animal protection organizations to champion the Captive Primate Safety Act, which would ban the private keeping of, and public interaction with, non-human primates.
Take Action for Primates!
Monkeys like Kiki and Gambit need your help to ensure that a new generation of monkeys are not forced to suffer like they have. Please take action today to ask your Member of Congress to support the Captive Primate Safety Act to bring an end to this cruel trade once and for all!
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Liz
