Primate trade

More than 130 of the world's primate species are endangered with wild populations of nonhuman primates at risk in all of the 92 countries in which they occur. Primates are primarily found in tropical rain forests where they play a important role in the ecosystem by helping to disperse seeds and pollinate plants.

The international trade in primates, including many species of monkeys, chimpanzees, and orangutans, is accelerating the decline of our closest living relatives in the animal kingdom to the point of near extinction.

Each year, more than 32,000 wild-caught primates are sold on the international market. Some conservative estimates are that over one-quarter of this trade is illegal - well, shouldn't 100 percent be illegal? In fact, INTERPOL (the international police agency) maintains that illegal wildlife trade is a US$5-billion-a-year business, second only to drugs as a worldwide black market. The animals are sold for food, for use in laboratory research, for exhibition, and for keeping by private individuals as companions.

Every year for more than a decade, the United States has imported about 1/3 of all primates sold internationally, a greater number of primates than the following four importing countries combined, with the United Kingdom consistently importing the second highest number of primates. Though the number of primates imported each year has fluctuated, Japan, Russia, The Netherlands, France, and Taiwan have long ranked among the top five importing countries. In recent years, wild-caught primates have been exported from many countries where they exist indigenously -- predominately from Indonesia, Malaysia, Kenya, Thailand, and China.

According to the Home Office official statistics 4,652 experiments using 3,115 primates were conducted in the UK in 2005. This makes the UK the second-largest user of primates in the EU, with only France using more. Around 10,000 primates are used every year for scientific experiments in the EU. Many more are held in laboritories and supply companies, where they're bred to make sure that the vivisection industry has a steady supply of research 'subjects'.

Number of baboons imported to the U$ of A (from 1995-1999): 1995 - 250; 1996 - 220; 1997 - 325; 1998 - 335; 1999 - 450. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service LEMIS (Law Enforcement Management Information Service))

Number of nonhuman primates used in research in the U$ of A (from 1995-1998): 1995 - 50,206; 1996 - 52,327; 1997 - 56,381; 1998 - 57,377. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Primate Supply Companies in the U$ of A (from 1995-1999): Buckshire Corporation - 787; New Iberia Research Centre - 882; LABS of Virginia - 1,376; Osage Research Primates - 2,016; Primate Products - 2,876; Sierra Biomedical, Inc. (a division of Charles River) - 4,117; HRP, Inc. (Hazelton Research Projects) - 5,712; Covance Research Products, Inc. - 8,286; Charles River BRF, Inc. - 15,363; a total of 41,415! (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

3,115 primates were used in UK

experiments in 2005

While removing monkeys from the wild and shipping them halfway around the world is costly, the alternative of breeding them in captivity is even more expensive. Due to the time involved, it's estimated that raising a monkey in captivity costs three times as much as taking one from the wild. Monkeys, both wild-caught and captive-bred, are imported into 'developed' countries despite the fact that monkeys are bred there (e.g. in the U$A), some of which are even exported to other countries for research. Shipments of monkeys are occasionally flown into the U.S. and immediately flown out again if a U.S. airline will accept the shipment or carry it more cheaply than a foreign airline. The primate trade (just like most other trades) is all about money, how the largest number of animals can be procured for the least amount of money.

The advent of jet airplanes in the 1940s catapulted the primate trade industry by great magnitudes. Whereas transporting primates by ship often took months to complete, and resulted in a mortality rate estimated to have been in excess of 80%, transportation by air involved days. However, transportation by air did nothing to decrease the suffering of primates as the numbers of animals traded drastically increased.

The international trade in primates causes animal misery on a massive scale. At every step in the process -- from branches in their lush jungle home to cages in cold, barren laboratories -- primates suffer and die by the thousands.

For one year, the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) conducted a difficult and sometimes dangerous investigation into the international trade in primates for research. Members of the BUAV team traveled to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Mauritius where monkeys are captured and bred for research. They watched as local villagers and farmers set traps by using nets or laying bait in crates or baskets. The large net traps, baited with fruit, are sprung once a group of animals venture inside.

Surviving animals are then taken in tiny crates with little or no food or water to holding centers where they await shipment to the U.S. or Europe. Overcrowding in the holding centers results in fighting between animals. Animals may be unable to stand normally in the small, dirty wooden crates. Some succumb to the intense tropical heat. In the larger cages, survivors are forced to climb over their dead companions.

Animals unwanted for research are weeded out at this stage. Females and younger animals are most desirable. Monkeys who are too large, too sick, too thin, or too old are killed. According to a 1992 BUAV investigation, up to 75% of the animals may be disposed of at the holding centers.

Animals selected for research are packed into cramped crates and loaded into the cargo holds of passenger airlines for the next leg of their journey. Journeys usually involve two or more flights covering thousands of miles, some with lengthy layovers.

Death during these flights is not unusual. Each year, upon arrival at airports in the U.S. and Europe, animals are found to have died from hypothermia, dehydration, and diarrhea. Once on the ground, the monkeys are trucked to holding centers, animal supply companies, and laboratories for quarantine. During the subsequent quarantine period more animals die from pneumonia and other diseases.

Locked alone in cold metal cages, far from their tropical home, and without companionship and appropriate environmental enrichment, they are destined to endure pain and suffering in the name of science and education.

Airline passengers on domestic and international flights would be shocked to learn that they may be flying in the same plane with monkeys destined for research laboratories. Each year thousands of monkeys, some of them captured from the wild, are transported by commercial airlines to the 'oh so morally superior West' for the purpose of experimentation.

Animals shipped long distances as cargo suffer from cramped conditions, inadequate ventilation, and extreme temperature fluctuations. Suffering and death can result, as illustrated by the following incidents described in U.S. government documents obtained by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) and the International Primate Protection League (IPPL), and provided to API:

* In August 1992, Lufthansa Airlines shipped 110 long-tailed macaques from Indonesia. All 110 monkeys on board were discovered dead on the plane's arrival in Florida. Shock and stress caused by freezing temperatures and lack of proper ventilation was cited as the cause.

* In May 1997, Air France transported a shipment of monkeys from Indonesia to the U.S., via Paris. During the flight, one monkey escaped from her crate, causing the entire shipment to be held up for two days while all of the crates were reinforced to prevent further escapes. In Paris, a nursing female monkey was found dead, and her baby subsequently killed. Although the shipment of pregnant females and suckling young is a violation of U.S. law, Air France has yet to be charged.

* In March 1998, two long-tailed monkeys were found to be dead among a shipment of animals transported by Garuda Indonesia Airlines from Indonesia to Los Angeles.

* In August 1998, in a shipment of animals transported by China Airlines from the Philippines to Atlanta, two long-tailed monkeys were discovered to be dead from colitis and diarrhea.

Thanks to the efforts of BUAV and IPPL, a number of U.S.-based and foreign airlines have agreed to no longer transport primates. Delta, TWA, and United, for example, all refuse to participate in this despicable trade that causes suffering and death to tens of thousands of primates each year. Unfortunately, several airlines remain to be convinced. In joining the BUAV in its primate trade campaign, API asks its members to consider individual airline involvement in the primate trade when making flight arrangements.

    

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We humans are just so damn smart and superior, aren't we?!

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Some of the Airlines that continue to make money with the transportation of primates:

So what can we do to protect the remaining primate populations?

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) the greatest threat facing most primate species today is habitat loss. Conserving the world's remaining tropical rainforests is the most important way to protect endangered primates. In Africa, the bushmeat trade is the most serious threat to many primate speices, including the great apes - chimpanzees, gorillas, and bonobos. Greater protection of national parks and other protected areas, as well as further protection of rainforest habitats, will help to save the world's primates.

Signing the following petitions on the bottom of this site will probably help as well.

Or if you are in the UK, then you can lobby your MP here.

Oh ya, and telling more people about these crimes probably won't harm either.

Primate experiments have been conducted recently in all these parts of the UK:

To take a look at the sources used for this entry and further info, check out the following links:

• World Wildlife Fund (WWF)


• British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV)


• A report on the Use of Primates in Experiments


• Primate Trade (Facts & Figures)


• Allied Efforts to Save Other Primates (AESOP Project)


• Oxford University practising animal tests (internal link)


• GatewayToHell.Net

Greed + Ignorance = Capitali$m!

~Peace,Solidarity&RespectForAllBeings~