Nonhuman Primates

The primates as a whole are subject to a number of forms of exploitation; they are bought and sold in the exotic pet trade, they are killed for meat and traditional medicine, and because of their similarities to human beings, they are often the subjects of scientific experimentation. It is these similarities that tend to either captivate or horrify most people, and that often make nonhuman primates dangerous to us, as many of them carry diseases that are easily transmitted to people, some of them fatal. As one becomes increasingly acquainted with the animal welfare crisis, it becomes clear that it is a human welfare crisis as well.

Both genetically and behaviorally, chimpanzees are the species most like us; in the early days of the US space program, chimpanzees were trained as astronauts, and two were sent into space. When the Air Force no longer had any use for the animals, they were sold to laboratories for experimentation. Only recently have most of the surviving 'space chimps' been relocated to animal sanctuaries, after the lab where they were kept was shut down by the USDA for gross violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Chimpanzees were not unfamiliar sights in laboratories before the space program, however, and they have been used to research everything from HIV/AIDS and hepatitis to cosmetics. As a result of the experimentation they have undergone, a large number of HIV-positive chimps are in need of rescue. Chimpanzees are also fairly common in the pet trade, despite being rather expensive, and they are hunted for the African bushmeat trade as well. Many are used in the entertainment industry, usually for comedy bits in TV commercials; for chimpanzees, what looks like a smile is actually an expression of intense fear.

The bonobo, or pygmy chimpanzee, is also heavily hunted, however not as common in captivity. Bonobos are known for their very active sex lives, making them inappropriate for family oriented institutions like zoos and theme parks. This is not to say that they cannot be found in laboratories and in the homes of a few, misinformed exotic animal hobbyists.

Gorillas are also common in captivity and in the bushmeat market, but they are used less in laboratories due to their large size and great strength. As with other apes like chimpanzees and orangutans, captive gorillas are seldom given an appropriate living environment or any significant form of enrichment; most of us are familiar with the very bored gorillas that can be seen in many American zoos. Outside of the zoo system, gorillas are far more often sold for their meat, which is popular among the wealthy in many countries, particularly Japan. Most of those eaten are lowland gorillas, but rare mountain gorillas are the targets of poachers as well.

Orangutans are under tremendous pressure due to habitat loss and the exotic pet trade. As with most primates, the common method for capturing the animals is to simply shoot a mother orangutan and take her young baby. The death rate is extremely high among captured orangutans, and it is even higher when the animals are smuggled out of their native ranges in Borneo and Sumatra. The young apes are typically given a strong sedative to keep them quiet when they are hidden in luggage; many never recover. Smugglers use insiders at the airports to help them get the animals onto commercial airliners. Once thought to be a single species, Bornean and Sumatran orangutans are now considered separate species after many generations of isolation from one another. These highly intelligent apes are remarkably adaptable; one female orangutan at a sanctuary in Borneo taught herself to fry an egg after watching her caretakers do so each morning, and a local male became notorious for stealing villagers' canoes to cross the river, after which he simply let them float away.

The gibbons are the smallest of the apes; several species are found throughout Southeast Asia, where they are extremely common in the wildlife trade. Like most primates, gibbons are highly social, and captive animals rarely receive the socialization they need for good mental health. In the wild, gibbons can be heard in the mornings and evening as they sing together in the treetops; with the help of thermal currents, their songs may travel several miles. Such noisy animals make terrible pets, and gibbons are constantly being abandoned at Buddhist monasteries or dumped at animal rescues in Thailand and neighboring countries. While most of the world's captive gibbons are probably found within their native ranges, they are not uncommon imports in North America and Europe, where they suffer no less than their counterparts back home.

The macaques are a well-known group of monkeys, found throughout much of Asia and the Mediterranean. They are common in laboratories and in the pet trade; the Japanese macaque, sometimes called a 'snow monkey', is a popular species with animal collectors, and the Rhesus macaque is especially common in captivity. Nearly all captive macaques carry the herpes B virus, which is easily transmitted to humans through any fluid-to-fluid contact. The virus only enters saliva and genital secretions during periodic shedding cycles, but these cycles are nearly impossible to predict or recognize, and with animals known for such behaviors as biting and urinating on their captors, the risk of human infection is undeniably high. Herpes B causes a fatal brain infection in approximately 70% of known human cases, and the remaining 30% usually suffer permanent neurological damage, prompting the question, why in the world would anyone want a macaque for a pet?

Langurs are another group of small monkeys found in India and Southeast Asia; they are popular in captivity, perhaps thanks to their appealing appearances, but as the saying goes, looks can be deceiving. In the wild, male langurs are known to engage in fights to the death for dominance; bands of bachelor males may attack and kill a dominant male and take control of his family, then kill any young monkeys he parented, prior to killing each other until only one male remains. Such aggression is easily transferred from monkey-on-monkey to monkey-on-human attacks, and as with so many monkeys, langurs carry zoonotic diseases, including Cryptosporidium, the protozoan responsible for giardiasis.

Baboons are also surprisingly common captives in the US, prompting at least one sanctuary to house them in a large, outdoor colony. Baboons are primarily herbivores, but like most primates, they eat their share of insects and other small animals as well. However, some wild baboons have been observed hunting and feeding on large birds, smaller monkeys, and even Thompson's gazelles, and their elongated incisors suggest that the animals are well adapted to a more carnivorous lifestyle. For keepers of captive baboons, this means more serious bites, and perhaps a more varied diet than the average urban animal collector is prepared to provide.

The mandrill and the drill are similar to baboons, but mandrills in particular are famous for the brightly colored faces and hindquarters exhibited by mature males. The mandrill is the largest monkey in the world, with males capable of exceeding 100 pounds. Like the baboons, mandrills sometimes hunt prey; wild males have been observed killing duikers - small, forest antelope, and in captivity, they have been known to capture and consume small birds that enter their enclosures. A mandrill is not an animal to be taken lightly, neither in terms of its size and strength nor the level of responsibility required for its proper captive care, as they have been known to live as long as 25 years in captivity. While they are not frequently seen in the exotic pet trade in North America, they are not uncommon in zoos, and they are therefore readily available to the general public.

Vervet monkeys are treated as vermin in South Africa, where they can legally be killed without any sort of permit or bag limit. In North America, they are common in laboratories and as pets, and like other monkeys they suffer terribly in captivity, and their social requirements are rarely met. Wild vervets live in large groups, and function as the alarm system for other animals on the African savannah; they are believed to possess rudimentary language, as alarm calls vary geographically and from one group to the next. For those who would ignore their basic needs and keep them in captivity regardless, vervets are also carriers of the herpes B virus, as well as African hemorrhagic fever, a few, little-known varieties of pox, and various other diseases transmissible to human beings.

Colobus monkeys are common victims of the bushmeat trade, and they are also hunted by troops of chimpanzees. They are sought by animal collectors who prize them for their long, flowing hair. The most common Colobus in captivity seems to be the guereza, which is similar in appearance to most of the other Colobus species, but other varieties are not unheard of in the wildlife trade. Colobus monkeys have been known to carry the bacteria that cause bovine tuberculosis, which can be transmitted to livestock and human beings.

Mangabeys are rare, African monkeys; the white-crowned mangabey is in fact so rare that as of 1999 only one accredited US zoo kept the species. However, a segment on the television program "20/20" uncovered how a laboratory was able to import the animals under a special research exemption, and dispose of them into the exotic pet trade. A primate dealer was then able to sell the monkeys to out-of-state buyers by taking payment in the form of a donation; he had incorporated his business as a nonprofit organization as a means to circumvent a number of legal hurdles, including the US Fish and Wildlife Service's prohibition of the interstate trade of endangered species. Other rare monkeys from West Africa, like the Diana monkey, are traded in the US in similar fashion; as is often the case, monkeys in danger of extinction in the wild are more common outside of zoos than inside, and to top it off, a number of West African species are frequent carriers of Simian Immunodeficiency Viruses (SIV), from which HIV is believed to have mutated.

The capuchins are extremely popular monkeys from Central and South America, used heavily in experimentation and very common in the exotic pet trade. They are the famous monkeys used by organ grinders for over a century. Some US zoos used to regularly sell surplus capuchin monkeys to the general public until they began to draw the scorn of animal welfare advocates; monkeys are still surplused, but it is done more quietly, and zoos have far more importers and breeders to compete with now. Capuchins are also used as helpers for disabled persons; the intelligent monkeys can be trained to perform a wide variety of tasks, like opening mail or cooking meals. Purchasing, training, and caring for a monkey is expensive, but still more affordable than a full-time attendant, and capuchins can live 40 years under proper conditions.

Spider monkey species are found from southern Mexico to the Amazon basin, and while they are not as common in the wild pet trade as capuchins, the Central American species is frequently available from US 'monkey farms'. Spider monkeys are particularly well adapted for life in the treetops, possessing strong, prehensile tails, and lacking the opposable thumbs that would only get in the way when swinging from branch to branch. Of course, few homes can provide a rainforest canopy for a spider monkey, nor can the average pet owner afford an appropriately sized social group of monkeys, as they cost thousands of dollars apiece to purchase and maintain. So for the monkeys, it's a life of wearing diapers and baby clothes, and frustration with inadequate opportunities to climb, followed by the usual biting, and a greatly increased chance of head lice for the pet owner.

Squirrel monkeys are another popular group of species. As their common name implies, they are relatively small; they also lack the prehensile tails possessed by spider monkeys and capuchins. Their small size is enough to convince people that they can be easily kept in an apartment, as opposed to an appropriate artificial habitat. In an internet article written by one squirrel monkey owner, she claims to be an excellent caretaker, then explains that the monkey is kept alone in a parrot cage, fed a diet that includes pasta, and that he has bitten her neighbor. In reality, a squirrel monkey's needs for space and environmental complexity are similar to those of larger New World monkeys, and likewise their need for socialization with others of their species is no less important. That squirrel monkeys are available at pet stores and easy to purchase does not make it ethical to hold one prisoner or to contribute to a highly unethical trade. So many monkeys are advertised as "hand-raised", but few consumers draw the obvious conclusion that these highly social mammals were therefore taken away from their mothers, either in captivity or by poachers in their native habitats.

Howler monkeys are the largest New World primates, with some species topping 20 pounds. They are found in the wild from southern Mexico to Argentina. Their size, strength, vocalizations, and dispositions make them poor pets, and even indigenous tribes in their native ranges rarely keep them. They are, however, popular pets in some areas of Argentina, and have of course entered the US exotic animal marketplace. Howlers are considered rare and therefore command high prices in the US, but like nearly all monkeys taken from the wild, they are obtained for next to nothing by poachers who shoot female monkeys and take their nursing offspring. Once in the US, howlers can be sold for thousands of dollars, whereas they may have been purchased in Latin America for pocket change.

Tamarins and marmosets are very popular in captivity as well, and like squirrel monkeys, their small size and endearing faces make them a temptation to many would-be exotic pet buyers. Breeders' price lists read like an inventory of the genus, with most of the known species readily available. The tiny pygmy marmoset is one candidate for the smallest primate on the world, weighing a mere 3 to 5 ounces at adulthood. The larger species round out the group at about 2 pounds, with the majority falling into the ¾ to 1½-pound range. Despite their small size, it is not uncommon for wild tamarins and marmosets to inhabit home ranges of well over 200 acres, foraging in small, family groups. As with most animals, territory is inversely proportional to the availability of food, and therefore captive primates require less room than those in the wild, but birdcages are still entirely unacceptable, despite being the standard enclosures used by exotic pet enthusiasts. It is also worth mentioning that imported marmosets have been documented to be infected with rabies.

The lemurs are primates, but not monkeys; the majority of species are found in the island nation of Madagascar, where habitat loss threatens to wipe out perhaps hundreds of species. Local superstitions and the bushmeat trade also put lemurs at risk, as does the export of live animals for scientific experimentation and the exotic pet trade. Ring-tailed lemurs, brown lemurs, and a few others are quite common in the US wildlife trade, while less common species are often bought and sold more secretively, and at much higher prices. Many lemurs live in social groups and cover large areas when foraging, a very different lifestyle from the leash training or laboratory testing so many experience in captivity. The tiny brown mouse lemur rivals the pygmy marmoset for the title of World's Smallest Primate, and as with all species labeled the biggest, smallest, fastest, etc., they are highly sought by animal collectors, if not especially common captives.

Bushbabies or galagos are another group of African primates that have become established in the pet trade, but like so many other fad pets, they are not well suited to life in captivity. Bushbabies are nocturnal and eat large quantities of insects and small vertebrates, fruits, and tree gums and saps in the wild. Their powerful hind legs enable them to leap long distances from tree to tree. Like most small mammals, they spend the vast majority of their waking hours in the pursuit of food, and bushbabies do so with the help of their finely tuned night vision and excellent hearing. Besides forming an important component of their diet, live insects are also important to captive bushbabies' behavioral enrichment, and should be provided in large quantities on a daily basis.

The lorises and pottos are somewhat similar in appearance to bushbabies, but very different in their activity levels; most of the lorises move slowly and deliberately, stalking insects rather than catching them with speed and agility. They rarely, if ever, leap from one branch to another, however they can pick up the pace when they feel threatened. Lorises also eat small vertebrates, sometimes capturing their prey as it sleeps. Bird eggs and fruit round out the diet. At least one species, the slow loris, produces a polypeptide toxin from glands in its arms, which is thought to repel predators when mixed with the animal's saliva. Indigenous people in Indonesia actually regard this mammal as venomous, and evidence suggests that it may use biting to deliver the toxin into the tissue of would-be predators. This species is also known to continually urinate on its hands, which it then wipes on trees to mark its territory - just what everyone wants in a household pet. Yet, despite their rather unappealing behavior, lorises are common pets in Southeast Asia and are exported to the US and other western destinations. As is the case with all other nonhuman primates, life in captivity tends to range from boring to brutal, and with any luck for the loris, it is also short.