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Channel Four Documentary: My Monkey Baby Ex-pet vervet monkey before being rescued by IPPL (UK) We have been receiving many enquiries following the screening of the Channel Four documentary about people in the USA treating their pet monkeys like surrogate children. Firstly, we would like to reassure all enquirers that we are campaigning on this issue in the USA where we have our global headquarters and gibbon sanctuary. We also maintain a website specifically aimed at discouraging prospective pet monkey owners: www.petmonkeyinfo.org. Secondly, it is important to note that although the programme implied that being able to legally buy a monkey as a pet is unique to certain states in the USA, this could not be further from the truth. It is still legal to buy, sell and keep monkeys as pets in the UK, and in a number of other countries in Europe. It is less easy for people to keep their pet monkeys like surrogate children in the UK because of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act (DWA), which requires the owners of most species of primate (but not all) to obtain a DWA licence and abide by its regulations, which are aimed at keeping the animal securely contained in an enclosure for the protection of the public (a very important measure as demonstrated by recent news of the chimpanzee attack in the USA). However, the issue that has concerned many viewers, that monkeys are being bred specifically to be sold as pets, is as much of a problem here as it is in the USA. The DWA legislation is aimed solely at protecting the public, not the primate, and even with the best intentions it is impossible for a pet owner to satisfy a wild animal's complex needs. Capuchins (the monkeys featured in this documentary) naturally range across huge areas of forest in groups of up to 40 individuals. In the wild, most of their day is spent foraging for food and socialising in the company of their own kind (with the occasional need to hide or run from a predator). They have evolved to be extremely intelligent as an adaptation to their environment and to the complexity of living as part of a large social group. Capuchins are even known to fashion and use tools, and they are the only monkey (rather than ape) to have demonstrated this aptitude. Taking such a highly evolved creature out of its natural habitat means depriving that monkey of its mental, social and physical needs. As well as risking malnourishment due to inadequate diet and lack of sunlight, monkey pet owners unwittingly deprive these intelligent primates of the psychological and environmental stimulation that is so important to their welfare. Most monkeys that have been kept as pets display stereotypical behaviour due to this deficiency, such as pacing, rocking, over-grooming and self-mutilation. These behaviours have also been observed in children that have been similarly mentally and socially deprived during their formative years. Another point to bear in mind is that, in order for these pet owners to buy a monkey as a baby, it will have been separated from its mother at an extremely young age, causing trauma for both the mother and her offspring. Many people are attracted to baby monkeys when they are young, gentle and vulnerable. However, once a monkey reaches adolescence, they naturally start to test their position in the hierarchy of their group and they will start to behave aggressively. It is often at this stage, that they are abandoned to a sanctuary. There is also a conservation issue. Monkeys sold as pets in habitat countries are usually wild caught, with mothers being shot so that their babies can be taken. This trade devastates whole populations and it is pushing primates all over the world to the brink of extinction. Keeping primates as pets in the West does not send out a responsible message when they are endangered by the pet trade in their native habitats. What you can do:
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