A new bill has been introduced to spare primates a life of misery and suffering as “pets.”

The Captive Primate Safety Act will ban the trade of prohibited primate species in the United States for private possession.
Please urge your U.S. congressional legislators to end the cruel primate pet trade today!

The Captive Primate Safety Act (CPSA) would ban the “importation, exportation, transportation, sale, receipt, acquisition, and purchase of any ‘prohibited primate species’ for private possession.”
The species prohibited under this bill include c​​himpanzees, galagos, gibbons, gorillas, lemurs, lorises, monkeys, orangutans, tarsiers, or any hybrid of such a species.

Humans are primates and we share undeniable similarities with other primates.
We are all mammals with enhanced vision, large brains relative to our body size, front-facing eyes that allow for depth perception, five digits to grasp objects, and we experience slow growth and longer lifespans.

Females birth a few offspring throughout their lifespans, typically one at a time, and nurse their young.
Primates engage in complex social structures and communicate through vocalizations, facial expressions, gestures, touching, and more.

Just like humans, other primates can learn and have the ability to utilize tools to accomplish tasks.
They feel joy, fear, pain, anger, and grief.
Some species, such as chimpanzees, have even been known to have exceptional senses of humor and laugh at each others’ jokes.

Nonhuman primates are native to tropical and subtropical forests where they are adapted for temperature, precipitation, vegetation, diet, and space.
Confining these animals as “pets” deprives them of socialization with their species.
They are also denied the mental stimulation they would naturally experience as they are unable to explore and learn in their natural habitats.
Primates confined as “pets” are also unable to follow their instincts to procreate and care for their families, and are generally deprived of everything wild animals need to thrive.

Nonhuman primates are typically ripped away from their mothers and sold as babies.
As they grow, their wild nature makes it evident that they suffer in captivity and cannot be controlled, creating a dangerous situation for the animals and their captors.

Sadly, primates are not only exploited within the pet trade.
They are held captive for profits in zoos, experimented on in science labs, and used for entertainment purposes.

The Captive Primate Safety Act would end the primate pet trade only, but it is a significant step in the right direction.

https://www.idausa.org/campaign/wild-animals-and-habitats/latest-news/stop-primate-pet-trade/

And I mean…For every baby monkey that ends up in zoos or as pets, an average of ten adult monkeys die because they are highly sensitive animals that will defend their young at any cost.

The decline affects the species differently.
The number of chimpanzees has fallen by at least 40 percent, and there are still around 300,000 animals in West and Central Africa. The number of gorillas fell by at least 35 percent to an estimated 300,000 specimens.
All great ape species are threatened with extinction.

It is a highly lucrative business for the pet traders.

While the poachers get between $50 and $100 for the babies, the pet traders charge up to $250,000 for the monkeys.
The illegal trade in rare animal species is the fourth most lucrative illegal business in the world after drug and human trafficking.

Scientists estimate that unless concrete action is taken to help primates, they may become extinct within the next decade.

These animals are invaluable to tropical biodiversity as they are important for forest regeneration and stable ecosystems.
If they die out, that is an alarm signal that these habitats will no longer be usable for humans in the long term.

My best regards to all, Venus