Action for Primates

Action for Primates is unreservedly opposed to keeping non-human primates in captivity, especially in private homes. Although a major concern is for the extreme cruelty of this practice, the issue is also one of public health. Non-human primates in captivity regularly attack and injure people because of the psychological damage caused by this incarceration. Below are just a few examples of reports on captive individuals causing injuries to people. Tragically, the non-human primate often ends up being killed for something not their fault, rather the selfish behaviour of people. The 'lesson' learned here should be obvious: government authorities must ban keeping non-human primates in private homes.

The Humane Society of the United States have provided an additional resource, compiling "primate incidents" from 19 July 1990 through 10 July 2013. You can get a copy here.

2023-03-14: "Monkey appears on woman's porch and rips her 'ear in half' in Oklahoma attack, she says" Kaitlyn Alanis The Kansas City Star accessed 2023-03-16

2023-03-14: "Pet Monkey Shot Dead After Attacking Woman, Ripping Ear in Half" Jess Thomson Newsweek accessed 2023-03-16

2022-09-02: "USDA penalizes Promised Land Zoo following shooting death of baboon" Collingwood, Ryan Springfield News-Leader accessed 2022-09-03

Promised Land Zoo was given a "critical" evaluation after the USDA's inspection of an enclosure, which was left unlocked and led to the escape of two baboons. One of the animals was recovered, but the other – a male fixture at the zoo named Tooki, according to several sources – was killed after it bit an employee. The monkey was shot by Promised Land owner Jeff Sanders after it was found in a wooded area of the zoo, according to a police report.

2022-07-27: "Yamaguchi dispatches monkey-hunting crew after spate of attacks in Japanese city" Farberov, Snejana New York Post accessed 2022-07-28

2022-07-22: "Escaped Monkey Attacks Two-year-old Ukrainian Refugee in Russian Village" Jess Thomson Newsweek accessed 2023-03-16

2021-06-21: "Umatilla County Sheriff's deputy kills chimpanzee that attacked woman". Catalina Gaitán. The Oregonian accessed 2021-06-22
One more example of why non-human primates of any species should not be kept in private homes. Although people may be injured in these situations, the non-human primate almost always 'pays' for the inhumanity of people by being killed.

2021-06-13: "Money That Escaped, Injured 4 May Not Be Returned to Owner". Associated Press. U.S. News & World Report accessed 2021-06-15

2020-10-19: "HCSO: Neighbors say Church Hill monkey has been ongoing issue after multiple 'conflicts'". Murry Lee. WJHL.com accessed 2021-06-15

2017-08-21: "Karnataka: Farmers use lasers to scare monkeys away". Anonymous. Bangalore Mirror accessed 2021-06-15

2015-08-11: "Monkey who escaped, bit hospital employee to move to primate sanctuary". Chris Dyches. WBTV.com accessed 2021-06-15

2015-07-10: "Monkey attacks owner, 71". Mom Kunthear. The Phnom Penh Post accessed 2021-12-10
…attacked and seriously injured by his pet monkey…The monkey was later killed by local authorities…

2015-01-30: "Illegal pet monkey bites woman at bank, seized by ACS". R.J. Marquez. KSAT.com accessed 2021-06-15

2014-08-06: "Monkey Bites Woman Outside California Pizzeria". Sarah Figalora. ABC News accessed 2021-06-15

2013-10-31: "Man's thumb nearly bitten off after giving escaped monkeys an egg sandwich". Becca Mitchell and Reed Andrews. 3WTKR accessed 2021-06-15
Ricky Strong had four monkeys pounce on him, and one of them nearly bit off his thumb. … The monkeys got loose midday Thursday from a Wedgewood shed.

2013-06-13: "Ill. boy bitten by monkey to seek rabies treatment". Anonymous. KFVS12 accessed 2021-06-16

2012-09-08: "Pet monkey detained after biting woman". Anonymous. UPI.com accessed 2021-06-16

2012-07-13: "1 Chimp Dead, 1 Tranquilized After Escaping Las Vegas Home". Cecilia Vega. ABC News accessed 2021-12-10

2011-08-18: "Monkey Attacks Tayce Nickel, Eight-Year-Old Girl In Walmart Parking Lot". Anonymous. HuffPost accessed 2021-06-16

2011-08-05: ""Very aggressive" monkey attacks Tennessee woman". Tim Ghianni. Reuters accessed 2021-06-16
An aggressive snow monkey named Yoshi, who was being kept by a Tennessee family, bit a woman and a sheriff's officer before he was shot and killed, police said on Friday.

2011-03-14: "Macaque monkey bites 10-year-old". Jim Whitfield. ConnectTristates.com accessed 2021-06-16
Lee County Sheriff Jim Scholl says a 10-year-old child was taken to Fort Madison Hospital for a cat bite, but hospital personnel eventually learned the child was bitten by a pet macaque monkey. … Scholl says a younger child provoked the monkey, and the bite occured when the 10-year-old tried to intervene.

2010-11-11: "$6,000 pet monkey escapes, attacks Oneida Castle woman". Jennifer Bogdan. Utica Observer-Dispatch

2010-03-31: "Service monkey bites owner… again". Anonymous. NBC2 News

2008-07-17: "Monkey bites raise public health issue" Semelka, Sara Columbia Daily Tribune accessed 2022-05-24

2008-07-11: "Woman bitten by monkey in Columbia". Matt Grant. 13KRCG accessed 2021-06-16
Columbia authorities are investigating the second monkey attack in less than a year. … A woman, in her early 20s, reported being bitten on the hand by a friend's pet snow monkey, also known as a Japanese macaque.

2008-02-29: "Pet lemur bites Gilbert boy to the bone". Nick Martin. East Valley Tribune accessed 2021-06-16
A three-year-old Gilbert boy was bitten on his wrist, possibly down to his bone, Friday afternoon by his family's pet primate.

News Media Articles Involving Captive Non-human Primates and Injuries to People