The Welfare and Suitability of Primates Kept as Pets

Private Keeping of Dangerous Wild Animals in Great Britain

We analysed the licences issued by British local government authorities under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, which regulates the private keeping of wild animals categorised as "dangerous", to assess the scope and scale of private keeping of dangerous wild animals in Great Britain. Results are compared with historical data from England and Wales, showing that there has been an overall decrease both in the total population of dangerous wild animals privately kept under licence and the number of licences, resulting primarily from a decrease in the farming of wild boar and ostrich, and from certain other species no longer requiring a licence to be kept. Nonetheless, the private keeping of dangerous wild animals remains prevalent, with a total population of 3950 animals kept under licence, and at least one-third of local authorities in Britain licensing keepers of one or more such animals. The population of non-farmed dangerous taxa has increased by 59% in 20 years, with notable increases in crocodilians (198%), venomous snakes (94%), and wild cats (57%). We present evidence that the average cost of a licence to keep dangerous wild animals has fallen over time, and that there is a negative association between cost and licensing. The current schedule of species categorised as dangerous is compared to a formally recognised list of species kept in zoos assessed by risk to the public. Problems with the legislation, enforcement of the licensing system, and animal welfare for privately kept dangerous wild animals are identified and discussed.

Can we eliminate the primate pet trade in the United States?

International laws and conventions have gone a long way in reducing the number of wild primates entering the United States of America (US) for the pet trade. However, breeding primates for sale to private owners in the United States continues, and individual states present a bewildering array of laws and regulations on the holding of primates as pets. As primatologists we can act to decrease the demand for primate pets by (1) speaking out on the inappropriate use of primates in mass media and especially in social media; (2) not posing in photographs in close proximity to primates; (3) continuing to educate about why primates do not make good pets; and (4) contributing to the science that underlies state and federal legislation with the goal of eliminating captive breeding of primates for the pet trade. We encourage primatologists and others in related fields to be cognizant of the persistent commercialization of primates and be willing to take action to deter it.

Pet primates for sale in the United States

Our research goal was to investigate the primate pet trade in the United States. While dogs and cats are the most common type of pet, there are an estimated 15,000 pet primates in the United States and the demand for exotic pets in general has been rising. Most research on pet primates occurs in habitat countries and little is known about these pets in the United States. We collected data from six exotic pet-trade websites twice a month for 12 months. We recorded the type of primate for sale, sex, age, location, and price. We used Chi-Square Goodness-of-Fit tests to compare whether the number of male and female pet primates for sale and the number of different age categories of pet primates for sale differed from equality and Spearman Correlation to examine associations between price and size and price and supply. We recorded 551 pet primates for sale between June 2019-June 2020, with 69.1% platyrrhines, 21.6% strepsirrhines, and 8.9% catarrhines. Marmosets were sold most often (36.7%, N = 202) followed by lemurs (21.6%, N = 119), capuchins (11.3%, N = 62), and squirrel monkeys (10.5%, N = 58). Almost two-thirds of the pet primates for sale were male (Chi-Square = 16.056, df = 1, P = 0. 00006) and 78.7% were under one year old (Chi-Square = 440.264, df = 2, P<0.00001). The median price was $3,800 though price was highly variable, even for the same taxa. There are several potential drivers for the primate pet trade, including media influence, fashion/status, and profitable breeding though these are not mutually exclusive. Primates do not make good pets and even when captive-bred, pet primates impact the conservation of their wild counterparts. Advertisement campaigns focusing on disease transmission and legal consequences and a federal ban on pet primate ownership are two avenues to pursue to end the ownership of pet primates in the United States.

Pet Macaques in Vietnam: An NGO's Perspective

Simple Summary

Macaques are regularly kept as pets in Vietnam, although the practice is illegal. This is substantially damaging to the individuals involved. In this article, we present the available data on the number of confiscations and releases of macaques throughout Vietnam over a five-year period (2015–2019). We examine this information alongside the data provided by Education for Nature Vietnam in a recent report on macaque possession cases. We also present insights from two key Animals Asia (a non-governmental organization) colleagues who work on the front lines of the macaque issue in Vietnam.

Abstract

In this article, we attempt to characterize the widespread trade in pet macaques in Vietnam. Data on confiscations as well as surrenders, releases, and individuals housed at rescue centers across Vietnam for 2015–2019 were opportunistically recorded. Data comparisons between Education for Nature Vietnam and three government-run wildlife rescue centers show that at least 1254 cases of macaque keeping occurred during the study period, including a minimum of 32 Assamese macaques (Macaca assamensis), 158 long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), 291 Northern pig-tailed macaques (Macaca leonina), 65 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), and 110 stump-tailed macaques (Macaca arctoides). A minimum of 423 individuals were confiscated, and at least 490 individual macaques were released. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with two key Animals Asia (a non-governmental organization) colleagues and their insights are presented. Although we recognize that the data included are limited and can serve only as a baseline for the scale of the macaque pet trade in Vietnam, we believe that they support our concern that the problem is significant and must be addressed. We stress the need for organizations and authorities to work together to better understand the issue. The keeping of macaques as pets is the cause of serious welfare and conservation issues in Vietnam.

Turning Negatives into Positives for Pet Trading and Keeping: A Review of Positive Lists

Simple Summary

In regulating the trading and keeping of exotic pets, lawmakers seek to protect animal welfare, prevent species declines, and safeguard biodiversity. The public also requires protection from pet-related injuries and animal-to-human diseases. Most legislation concerning exotic pet trading and keeping involves restricting or banning problematic species, a practice known as “negative listing”. However, an alternative approach adopted by some governments permits only those species that meet certain scientifically proven criteria to be sold and kept as pets. Thus, governments may “positively list” only those species that are suitable to keep in domestic settings and that do not present a disproportionate risk to people or the environment. We reviewed international, national, and regional legislation in Europe, the United States, and Canada and found that largely unpublished and often inconsistent criteria are used for the development of negative and positive lists. We also conducted online surveys of governments, which received limited responses, although telephone interviews with governments either considering or developing positive lists revealed insights regarding their interest and motivation towards positive lists. We discuss key issues raised by civil servants including the perceived advantages of positive lists and challenges they anticipate in drawing up suitable lists of species. We compare functions of negative and positive lists and offer recommendations to governments concerning the development and implementation of positive lists.

Abstract

The trading and keeping of exotic pets are associated with animal welfare, conservation, environmental protection, agricultural animal health, and public health concerns and present serious regulatory challenges to legislators and enforcers. Most legislation concerning exotic pet trading and keeping involves restricting or banning problematic species, a practice known as “negative listing”. However, an alternative approach adopted by some governments permits only the keeping of animals that meet certain scientifically proven criteria as suitable in respect of species, environmental, and public health and safety protections. We conducted an evaluation of positive lists for the regulation of pet trading and keeping within the context of the more prevalent system of restricting or prohibiting species via negative lists. Our examination of international, national, and regional regulations in Europe, the United States, and Canada found that criteria used for the development of both negative and positive lists were inconsistent or non-specific. Our online surveys of governments received limited responses, although telephone interviews with officials from governments either considering or developing positive lists provided useful insights into their attitudes and motivations towards adopting positive lists. We discuss key issues raised by civil servants including perceived advantages of positive lists and anticipated challenges when developing lists of suitable species. In addition, we compare functions of negative and positive lists, and recommend key principles that we hope will be helpful to governments concerning development and implementation of regulations based on positive lists.

Conservation implications of primate trade in China over 18 years based on web news reports of confiscations

Primate species have been increasingly threatened by legal and illegal trade in China, mainly for biomedical research or as pets and traditional medicine, yet most reports on trade from China regard international trade. To assess a proxy for amount of national primate trades, we quantified the number of reports of native primate species featuring in unique web news reports from 2000 to 2017, including accuracy of their identification, location where they were confiscated or rescued, and their condition upon rescue. To measure temporal trends across these categories, the time span was divided into three sections: 2000-2005, 2006-2011 and 2012-2017. A total of 735 individuals of 14 species were reported in 372 news reports, mostly rhesus macaques (n = 165, 22.5%, Macaca mulatta) and two species of slow lorises (n = 487, 66.3%, Nycticebus spp.). During the same period, live individuals of rhesus macaques were recorded 206 times (70,949 individuals) in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Trade Database, whereas slow lorises were only recorded four times (nine individuals), indicating that the species originated illegally from China or were illegally imported into China. Due to their rescued locations in residential areas (n = 211, 56.7%), most primates appeared to be housed privately as pets. A higher proportion of 'market' rescues during 2006-2011 (χ2 = 8.485, df = 2, p = 0.014), could be partly attributed to an intensive management on wildlife markets since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003. More than half (68.3%, 502 individuals) of the primate individuals were unhealthy, injured or dead when rescued. Thus, identification and welfare training and capacity-building should be provided to husbandry and veterinary professionals, as well as education to the public through awareness initiatives. The increase in presence of some species, especially slow lorises, with a declining population in restricted areas, also suggests the urgent need for public awareness about the illegal nature of keeping these taxa as pets.

Diseases Transmitted by Less Common House Pets

Beside dogs and cats, the most common pets worldwide, an increasing number of pocket pets and exotic pets are making their way to more and more households, especially in North America and Europe. Although many of these animals make appropriate pets, they also can be a source of many zoonotic diseases, especially in young children and immunocompromised individuals. Some of these diseases can be life threatening, such as rabies, rat bite fever, and plague. Some others are quite common, because of the frequency of the pathogens harbored by these species, such as salmonellosis in reptiles and amphibians. Appropriate knowledge of the zoonotic agents carried by these "new" pet species is strongly recommended prior to acquiring pocket or exotic pets. Furthermore, adopting wildlife as pets is strongly discouraged, because it is always a risky action that can lead to major health issues.

Welfare impacts of the illegal wildlife trade in a cohort of confiscated greater slow lorises, Nycticebus coucang

Illegal harvesting and trade are major forces behind population declines of wild slow lorises (genus Nycticebus). The impacts of the wildlife trade on individual slow lorises have not been as well described. In this article, we describe quantitatively the consequences of the wildlife trade for 77 greater slow lorises, N. coucang, who were confiscated en masse and brought to Cikananga Wildlife Center in Indonesia. Medical records indicated that in total, 28.6% of the slow lorises died within the first 6 months, mostly due to traumatic injury, and all the infants died. The greatest sources of morbidity were external wounds (33.1% of 166 total medical events) and dental problems (19.3%). Of the surviving individuals, 25.4% displayed abnormal behavior. Behavioral observations indicated that healthy adults (n = 3) spent 48.2% of their active period performing stereotypies. These data illustrate the physical and behavioral impacts of the illegal wildlife trade on the welfare of slow lorises. We suggest that sharing these individual stories may help generate empathy and educate the public about the impacts of the exotic companion-animal (pet) trade on nonhuman animal welfare.

Primates on display: Potential disease consequences beyond bushmeat

Human interactions with nonhuman primates vary tremendously, from daily cultural engagements and food commodities, to pet ownership and tourist encounters. These interactions provide opportunities for the exchange of pathogenic organisms (both zoonoses and anthroponoses). As exposures are not limited to areas where bushmeat usage continues to be a major problem, we must work to understand better our motivations for engaging in activities like owning primates as pets and having direct physical contact with wild primates within the context of nature-based tourism. These topics, and the theoretical potential for pathogen transmission, are reviewed in the present manuscript. This is followed by a case study utilizing 3845 survey responses collected from four international locations known for primate-based tourism, with results indicating that while a majority of people understand that they can give/get diseases to/from wild primates, a surprising percentage would still touch or feed these animals if given the opportunity. Many people still choose to touch and/or own primates, as their drive to bond with animals outweighs some basic health behaviors. Desires to tame, control, or otherwise establish emotional connections with other species, combined with the central role of touch for exploring our environment, necessitate the development of better communication and educational campaigns to minimize risks of emerging infectious diseases.

Disease and Human/Animal Interactions

Understanding pathogen exchange among human, wildlife, and livestock populations, and the varying ecological and cultural contexts in which this exchange takes place, is a major challenge. The present review contextualizes the risk factors that result from human interactions with livestock, companion animals, animal exhibits, wildlife through nature-based tourism, and wildlife through consumption. Given their phylogenetic relatedness to humans, primates are emphasized in this discussion; primates serve as reservoirs for several human pathogens, and some human pathogens can decimate wild primate populations. Anthropologists must play a central role in understanding cultural variation in attitudes toward other species as well as perceived risks when interacting with animals. I argue that the remediation of emerging infectious diseases will be accomplished primarily through human behavioral changes rather than through efforts in pathogen discovery. Given the history of human interactions with wildlife, candid discussions on zoonotic diseases will be increasingly important for our combined survival.

Behavioral Ecology of Captive Species: Using Bibliographic Information to Assess Pet Suitability of Mammal Species

Which mammal species are suitable to be kept as pet? For answering this question many factors have to be considered. Animals have many adaptations to their natural environment in which they have evolved that may cause adaptation problems and/or risks in captivity. Problems may be visible in behavior, welfare, health, and/or human–animal interaction, resulting, for example, in stereotypies, disease, and fear. A framework is developed in which bibliographic information of mammal species from the wild and captive environment is collected and assessed by three teams of animal scientists. Oneliners from literature about behavioral ecology, health, and welfare and human–animal relationship of 90 mammal species are collected by team 1 in a database and strength of behavioral needs and risks is assessed by team 2. Based on summaries of those strengths the suitability of the mammal species is assessed by team 3. Involvement of stakeholders for supplying bibliographic information and assessments was propagated. Combining the individual and subjective assessments of the scientists using statistical methods makes the final assessment of a rank order of suitability as pet of those species less biased and more objective. The framework is dynamic and produces an initial rank ordered list of the pet suitability of 90 mammal species, methods to add new mammal species to the list or remove animals from the list and a method to incorporate stakeholder assessments. A model is developed that allows for provisional classification of pet suitability. Periodical update of the pet suitability framework is expected to produce an updated list with increased reliability and accuracy. Furthermore, the framework could be further developed to assess the pet suitability of additional species of other animal groups, e.g., birds, reptiles, and amphibians.

Illegal captive lemurs in Madagascar: Comparing the use of online and in-person data collection methods

Although it is illegal to capture, sell, and trade lemurs, the live capture of lemurs in Madagascar is ongoing and may have impacted over 28,000 lemurs between 2010 and 2013. Only one study has examined this trade and did so using in-person interviews in northern Madagascar. The current study sought to expand this existing dataset and examine the comparability of online surveys to more traditional on-location data collection methods. In this study, we collected data through a web-based survey resulting in 302 sightings of 685 captive lemurs. We also collected data from 171 hotel and 43 restaurant websites and social media profiles. Survey submissions included sightings of 30 species from 10 genera, nearly twice as many species as identified via the in-person interviews. Lemur catta, Varecia variegata, and Eulemur fulvus were the most common species sighted in captivity. Captive lemurs were reported in 19 of Madagascar's 22 administrative regions and most were seen in urban areas near their habitat ranges. This represents a wider geographic distribution of captive lemurs than previously found through in-person interviews. The online survey results were broadly similar to those of the in-person surveys though greater in species and geographic diversity demonstrating advantages to the use of online surveys. The online research methods were low in cost (USD $100) compared to on-location data collection (USD $12,000). Identified disadvantages included sample bias; most of the respondents to the online survey were researchers and many captive sightings were near study sites. The results illustrate the benefits of incorporating a social science approach using online surveys as a complement to traditional fieldwork. Am. J. Primatol. 79:e22541, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Impact of visual context on public perceptions of non-human primate performers

Prior research has shown that the use of apes, specifically chimpanzees, as performers in the media negatively impacts public attitudes of their conservation status and desirability as a pet, yet it is unclear whether these findings generalize to other non-human primates (specifically non-ape species). We evaluated the impact of viewing an image of a monkey or prosimian in an anthropomorphic or naturalistic setting, either in contact with or in the absence of a human. Viewing the primate in an anthropomorphic setting while in contact with a person significantly increased their desirability as a pet, which also correlated with increased likelihood of believing the animal was not endangered. The majority of viewers felt that the primates in all tested images were "nervous." When shown in contact with a human, viewers felt they were "sad" and "scared", while also being less "funny." Our findings highlight the potential broader implications of the use of non-human primate performers by the entertainment industry.

Use of "entertainment" chimpanzees in commercials distorts public perception regarding their conservation status

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are often used in movies, commercials and print advertisements with the intention of eliciting a humorous response from audiences. The portrayal of chimpanzees in unnatural, human-like situations may have a negative effect on the public's understanding of their endangered status in the wild while making them appear as suitable pets. Alternatively, media content that elicits a positive emotional response toward chimpanzees may increase the public's commitment to chimpanzee conservation. To test these competing hypotheses, participants (n = 165) watched a series of commercials in an experiment framed as a marketing study. Imbedded within the same series of commercials was one of three chimpanzee videos. Participants either watched 1) a chimpanzee conservation commercial, 2) commercials containing "entertainment" chimpanzees or 3) control footage of the natural behavior of wild chimpanzees. Results from a post-viewing questionnaire reveal that participants who watched the conservation message understood that chimpanzees were endangered and unsuitable as pets at higher levels than those viewing the control footage. Meanwhile participants watching commercials with entertainment chimpanzees showed a decrease in understanding relative to those watching the control footage. In addition, when participants were given the opportunity to donate part of their earnings from the experiment to a conservation charity, donations were least frequent in the group watching commercials with entertainment chimpanzees. Control questions show that participants did not detect the purpose of the study. These results firmly support the hypothesis that use of entertainment chimpanzees in the popular media negatively distorts the public's perception and hinders chimpanzee conservation efforts.

Use of "entertainment" chimpanzees in commercials distorts public perception regarding their conservation status

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are often used in movies, commercials and print advertisements with the intention of eliciting a humorous response from audiences. The portrayal of chimpanzees in unnatural, human-like situations may have a negative effect on the public's understanding of their endangered status in the wild while making them appear as suitable pets. Alternatively, media content that elicits a positive emotional response toward chimpanzees may increase the public's commitment to chimpanzee conservation. To test these competing hypotheses, participants (n = 165) watched a series of commercials in an experiment framed as a marketing study. Imbedded within the same series of commercials was one of three chimpanzee videos. Participants either watched 1) a chimpanzee conservation commercial, 2) commercials containing “entertainment” chimpanzees or 3) control footage of the natural behavior of wild chimpanzees. Results from a post-viewing questionnaire reveal that participants who watched the conservation message understood that chimpanzees were endangered and unsuitable as pets at higher levels than those viewing the control footage. Meanwhile participants watching commercials with entertainment chimpanzees showed a decrease in understanding relative to those watching the control footage. In addition, when participants were given the opportunity to donate part of their earnings from the experiment to a conservation charity, donations were least frequent in the group watching commercials with entertainment chimpanzees. Control questions show that participants did not detect the purpose of the study. These results firmly support the hypothesis that use of entertainment chimpanzees in the popular media negatively distorts the public's perception and hinders chimpanzee conservation efforts.