Rescue Monkeys from Lives of Abuse

In the last 18 months, Born Free USA has rescued four former “pet” monkeys. The non-profit works tirelessly towards ending the cruel trade in primates as pets by providing lifetime sanctuary to its victims and lobbying for a federal ban. Read on to find out about the 175-acre sanctuary’s newest residents:

Lyla is a young Rhesus macaque found in some of the worst conditions our staff had ever seen. Confiscated from a hoarding situation, she had spent seven long years in a tiny, filthy dog crate. On arrival at the sanctuary, Lyla was suffering from stress related behaviors known as stereotypies. She would pace her enclosure and spin in circles; disturbing behaviors which spoke to her past trauma. As time passed, these behaviors diminished, and she is now embarking on her new journey of making monkey friends for the first time in her life.

Gizmo the vervet monkey was surrendered by his owner after an attack on a family member. Purchased when he was a baby, Gizmo gradually became more aggressive and dangerous as he got older. This ended in the attack, which led to 18 stitches in the man’s head and shoulder. It took two adults to pull Gizmo off him.

Since his arrival at the sanctuary, Gizmo has settled into a social group with other vervet monkeys. He now lives in a large, open-top enclosure and spends his days socializing with his new friends and exploring his expansive space.

Pablito the Rhesus macaque was spotted running free around Texas border town, Laredo. He was hit by a car and suffered significant head injuries. Incredibly, he survived his ordeal and arrived at the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary in March of 2024. He quickly settled in and has now been paired with long-term resident, Dawkins. It is illegal to keep monkeys as pets in Laredo which is perhaps why his former owner never came forward. He is now safe under our care.

Julian the Japanese macaque arrived in March 2024. Little is known about his background, other than that he was kept as a pet and then confiscated by law enforcement. As a youngster of around five years old, we were confident that he would integrate well into a social group. We chose to introduce him to the large troop of fifty monkeys living in one of our multi-acre enclosures. We were delighted when, after a careful process of letting him meet selected individuals, Julian was let out into the large space and very quickly settled in. He now roams freely in five acres with trees, brush, ponds, and – most importantly – friends.

While rescuing monkeys from the pet trade changes the lives of those individuals forever, we can only rescue a tiny number of the thousands kept as pets in the United States. We continue to work hard to see the Captive Primate Safety Act introduced. This law would ban the keeping of primates as pets on a national level and end the suffering of monkeys like Lyla, Gizmo, Pablito, and Julian.

Links:

• Born Free USA Official Website

This has been a busy period for monkey rescues, with 6 primates successfully secured and brought to the Primate Transit Home (PTH) in Kafue National Park. As part of the ZPP rescue protocol which is guided by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), all 6 rescued primates underwent initial health assessment before being transported. Here are some of ZPP’s newest rescues. 

Charlie, 3 weeks old at time of rescue  

This tiny vervet monkey was found being sold near a farm in Chisamba district of Zambia. A farmer cared for the infant monkey for 2 weeks and then contacted ZPP for help. Charlie is very young and requires physical contact which is currently being provided by a primate carer in the absence of an available surrogate vervet mother.  

Valentine, 1 week old at time of rescue  

On 14th February, we received a call for Valentine who had been found at a few days old, alone by children and taken to their village. Shortly thereafter, he was given to a known local rehabber, Caroline, who contacted us. Caroline supported Valentine for 48 hours while ZPP arranged transit. Valentine is the youngest primate that has ever been received at the PTH. Usually, we would place babies with surrogate mothers, but in his case, Valentine was cared for by the primate care team. 

Popo, 3 years old at time of rescue  

In March, ZPP conducted a rescue mission in Lunga village in North-western province and a female subadult vervet monkey named Popo was successfully rescued. Popo, was a victim of the illegal wildlife trade and was being kept as a pet. It was established that she had been held captive for over 3 years. Her condition was OK with no significant injuries, although she is extremely humanised. With the support of an officer from Department of National Parks and Wildlife and Zambia Police, she was confiscated from her owner. Upon arrival at a vet clinic for health checks, the vet carefully removes her bindings. It is important that rescuers do not attempt this themselves in the field as often the bindings have cut into the skin and cause infection. In addition, in this case they needed to be removed under sedation for the safety of the field team and the comfort of Popo. In Popo’s case, thankfully the binding was rope and string and had not cut into her flesh as is frequently seen when primates are restrained with wire.  

Kamushi, 3 years old at time of rescue 

In February, ZPP received a call from a resident of Kitwe’s Kabala area. A lone monkey had appeared on her property, and she wanted it to be relocated as it as it was becoming problematic, scavenging, and not leaving her farm. We attended to this farm and managed to trap a 3-year-old male vervet monkey. After health checks at our vet clinic he was transferred to the PTH quarantine unit with Popo. It is most likely that Kamushi is an ex-pet, based on his very confident behaviour around people and his scavenger tendencies.  

Allan, 2 months old at time of rescue 

In March ZPP received a call a young about a young vervet monkey. Named Allan, he was rescued when a Lusaka resident found a man walking around with this young primate tied up with wires around its waist. ZPP was called to intervene and they successfully managed to confiscate the monkey. Allan was in a poor condition and even at such a young age his teeth were covered in plaque from the poor diet he had been fed on since his captivity. He arrived at the PTH with diarrhoea, no appetite, and could not feed himself. He was dehydrated, filled with fear and only made little movements. With unwavering dedication, ZPP have worked tirelessly to stabilize him and provided the love and care he so desperately needs. This involves lots of contact and comfort by his carers as well as integration with the nursery troop.  

Muss, 6 months old at time of rescue  

A young vervet monkey was found alone at a farm in Chingola district on the Copperbelt. We engaged our partners at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage (CWO) who were the nearest point of contact to the rescue location. CWO collected the young vervet and conducted health checks at their veterinary clinic and provided initial care and stabilization and care for the youngster at their highly equipped facility. This enabled ZPP to coordinate the collection of Muss in combination with their rescue of three other primates, ensuring that ZPP could streamline their movements and work most efficiently. Muss was collected in March and transferred to the PTH nursery troop. 

Links:

• About vervet monkeys
• About the ZPP