Primates as Pets: By the Numbers

October 10, 2024

Lincoln Park Zoo, along with a coalition of partners, is supporting the Captive Primate Safety Act. This bill is designed to end the private ownership of nonhuman primates. Below, you’ll find some statistics that indicate why organizations that champion animal welfare are teaming up to get this law passed.

With decades of expertise caring for primates, Lincoln Park Zoo has been at the forefront of research about primate wellbeing. Not only is trafficking of apes, monkeys, lemurs, and simians widespread, research also shows how difficult it is for private owners to care for such animals properly.

To join the effort and raise your voice on behalf of primates, visit lpzoo.org/takeaction.

captive primate safety act campaign

Primates as Pets

Here are some numbers you should know about keeping primates as pets.

15,000+ – Although it is largely unknown how many pet primates there are in the U.S., many researchers and animal welfare supporters believe this is the correct number.

$25,000 – The estimated cost of keeping one chimpanzee in an appropriate setting with nutritious food for a year, as noted by zoo partner Chimp Haven. Keep in mind, to thrive, chimpanzees should live in mixed groups with multiple individuals of each sex.

12 – The number of states that currently allow primates as pets. They are: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Missouri, West Virginia, Connecticut, Kansas, Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Florida. Another 12 states allow some level of ownership with a permit, while other states have specific additional restrictions. For example, in Illinois, capuchin monkeys can be owned as service animals for those who have several motor disabilities, even though multiple organizations, including the American Veterinary Medical Association, do not support the use of nonhuman primates as service animals.

75% – The number of guests in a 2024 survey from Lincoln Park Zoo who did not realize there are no federal laws regarding primate ownership in the U.S.

captive primate safety act campaign

The Safety of People and Primates

Safety for both people and animals is compromised when primates are owned as pets.

44% – The percentage of 179 nonhuman primates in personal home environments documented in one 2003 survey, published in the American Journal of Primatology, that received burns caused by stones, irons, lightbulbs, or candles; experienced falls from two-story or higher buildings; or suffered poisoning from ingestion of cleaning products or plants.

275 – The number of human injuries from nonhuman primates in personal possession in the U.S. (43 states) between 1990–2013, as recorded by The Humane Society of the United States; many involved children.

238 – The number of pet primate attacks (133) or escapes as recorded by HSUS from 2000–2020; it is believed that this number is low due to pet owners being unwilling to report injuries for fear illegal pets may be confiscated or euthanized.

6% – The percentage of primate pets in a 2010 study in Endangered Species Research whose canine teeth were extracted after they bit someone (50% of primate pets in the study had bitten someone).

11% – The percentage of pet primate deaths due to owners killing them after an aggressive incident, as noted in a 2003 Mexico City study from the American Journal of Primatology.

80–90% – The percentage of adult macaques in human-care environments with the herpes-B virus, which can cause fatal meningoencephalitis, according to a report in Emerging Infectious Disease.

The Primate Trade

Primates that are sold on the open market—and more and more often, these are online markets—are often done so illegally, but it can be hard to track their origins.

397 – The number of live primates being sold in 280 online marketplaces in 16 countries in 2014, according to an investigation by the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

3 – The rank of the U.S. out of 171 countries, based on the ease of purchasing pet primates online, according to a 2023 study in Environmental Development.

79% – The percentage of primates for sale that are under a year old, based on a 2021 Plos One study focusing on 551 primates sold on six online marketplaces.

37% – Percentage of primates for sale that are marmosets, according to the above study. Marmosets are among the primate species most commonly traded online.

22% – Percentage of primates for sale that are lemurs.

11% – Percentage of primates for sale that are capuchins. Capuchins are also one of the primates most commonly sold online.

11% – Percentage of primates for sale that are squirrel monkeys.

$187 million – The amount made on the global trade of primates in 2020, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

218,000–238,000 – According to a 2023 study in the European Journal of Wildlife Research, this is how many nonhuman primates the legal trade imported just to the EU between 2002-2021, at a value of $869 million.

Primate Conservation

Having primates as pets affects their conservation outcomes, both on an individual level and a population level.

7 – According to the head of the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, as quoted by Mongabay, this is the number of gibbons killed for each infant gibbon poached. Estimates for other ape species (especially chimps and bonobos) from the United Nations Environment Programme result in similar numbers, as families of 5–10 individuals are killed for bushmeat so that one infant may be forcibly taken from them.

60% – The percentage of primate species threatened with extinction, according to a 2017 study in Science Advances. Almost 75% face population declines.

22,218 – UNEP estimates that this was the number of wild great apes lost to the illegal wildlife trade between 2005–2011—that’s more than 3,000 a year. Of this number, 64% were chimpanzees. Yet during this time period, only 27 arrests related to the great ape trade were made in Africa and Asia.

captive primate safety act campaign

Take Action With Us!

If you’re interested in helping pass the Captive Primate Safety Act, go to lpzoo.org/takeaction and use your voice! Simply fill out the form on the web page and we’ll provide updates on the fight, along with tools to contact your representatives and spread the word. Help us save primates!

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