Image from PETA: A long-tailed macaque, caught up in the international trade of wildlife for experimentation, looks out from a transport crate.

Our thanks to the Animal Party of Canada for the information below along with the opportunity to take action by sending a quick, pre-written letter. It only takes a moment.

The Issue:

In November 2022, after a five-year investigation by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service into the sourcing of monkeys used in research, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted Cambodia government officials and nationals for an alleged monkey smuggling ring, and suspended the import of all monkeys from the country. The monkeys – long-tailed macaques – which are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, were captured from the wild but misrepresented as bred in captivity.

Since the U.S. suspension, Canadian imports of long-tailed macaques from Cambodia have increased, and over the past 19 months, thousands of the monkeys have been brought into the country.

On Friday, August 9, 2024 the Canadian Transportation Agency denied a landing permit to a cargo plane loaded with long-tailed macaques from Cambodia for apparently being in violation of International Air Transport Association guidelines. The following day, on August 10, the plane landed at the Montreal-Mirabel airport — 48 hours after the animals had been loaded. CITES Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Enforcement Directorate have been contacted to determine what enforcement action will be taken.

Canada is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and should be ordering an immediate suspension of all monkey imports from Cambodia until the issue of illegal trade has been resolved.

How You Can Help!

Please join us in asking the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to follow the lead of the U.S. government and suspend the importation of endangered monkeys from Cambodia.