Monkeys

Monkeys are too social and intelligent animals to make good pets for the vast majority of people. Their child-like dependency and friendliness fade as they mature to adults when they generally become aggressive and attack the ones that love at the slightest (or no) provocation. The monkeys you see on television or out in public are juveniles, borrowed from the zoo, returned when they become unmanageable and replaced with new infants – a never ending cycle that should not be allowed. Adults are rarely seen outside of cages. Even hand-rearing an infant primate will not alter this natural change in monkey behavior. It will, however, make the pet an outcast; often unable to adjust to a monkey troop and result in a lifetime of neurotic behavior. One monkey owner stated that she had hand-reared a monkey that she worked with for seven years and that would go everywhere with her—and all of a sudden one day she just turned on the owner.

There are very few veterinarians who will care for monkeys when they get ill or who will perform annual health checkups. These checkups need to include tuberculosis testing, possibly viral testing, vaccinations and blood examinations. Most of its teeth will eventually be extracted to prevent injury to you or other monkeys. Neutering the monkey will not change its disposition. Proper caging is challenging and bulky. Monkeys are masters at escape and the cost of a humane, home-made, government-approved, indoor-outdoor cages for medium size primates is many hundreds of dollars - thousands of dollars if a profession contractor builds it. People who purchase monkey as pets tend to feed them the foods they eat themselves, and monkeys that live off human table scraps inevitably do poorly and do not live very long.

Let’s say that none of the above issues concern you, or you have accepted them, or your just hell-bent on having a monkey, and let’s say you have unlimited financial resources, acreage and enthusiasm. The next thing to consider is what will happen to this poor animal if things don’t work out or if you situation changes in the next 30 – 40 years. Things will happen in your life that you never anticipate, and when they do, who is going to take responsibility and care for this monkey? Will he/she have to endure the psychological trauma of loosing its adoptive family and moving to new or poorer facilities or being bulk-loaded in some overcrowded sanctuary? Will the police destroy the animal? Will you be sued over its actions? Will it end up in some roadside carnival? There are many, many more displaced, second, third and fourth-hand monkeys in the United States than there are reputable sanctuaries that will accept them. Zoos don't take former pets. Some unwanted primates end up in sanctuaries to live out their remaining days, sanctuaries today are usually filled to capacity and will not take another until one of theirs dies. Sadly, most end up being sold and resold over and over again. Others are sent to laboratories or used in breeding programs.

The health and safety hazards associated with exposure to monkeys and other nonhuman primates prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in 1975 to prohibit them from being imported into the United States for use as pets. Today, monkeys offered for sale are surplus animals from zoos and laboratories or from breeders. Just about every species of primate, from capuchins to chimpanzees, is available though with prices ranging from $1,500 to $50,000. Even endangered species, like Diana monkeys, lemurs, and gibbons, are for sale.
If you own a Monkey, please let me know what your story is as this is the one type of animal I have not owned.


By: Sallie S.

Monkeys 2010-03-10T06:44:00-08:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: Unknown