Born Free USA and our partners at PETA have been working hard to rescue more than 1,000 long-tailed macaques who were imported illegally into the United States by Charles River Laboratories, with the intent of using them in experiments. The young monkeys are thought to have been wild caught, and not captive bred, and that their import documentation may have been falsified.
Sadly, these are far from the only wild macaques to be stolen from the wild for use in labs. Long-tailed macaques and pig-tailed macaques face a bleak future, with experts projecting a 50% decline in wild populations over the next few decades, largely due to exploitation in experimentation.
Born Free USA has joined with PETA and leading primate scientists to call on the U.S. government to list the long-tailed and the pig-tailed macaque under the Endangered Species Act. As the leading importer in the trade in live macaques, the U.S. has an obligation to act quickly to protect these species with an ESA listing.
The new petition was penned by PETA scientists and supported by Born Free and signatories including famed primatologists, Jane Goodall and Birutė Galdikas. If successful, it would create a new level of protection for the monkeys and make their import for lab exploitation more difficult.
Sign the Petition Calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to List Long-Tailed and Pig-Tailed Macaques to the Endangered Species Act!
