Endangered monkeys are being trafficked to the US for biomedical research
in a massive monkey-laundering scheme, according to a shocking new report.

Let’s call on one of the biggest buyers to clean up its supply chain and
save the wild long-tailed macaques:

[ [link removed] ] Sign the petition 

   
John,

Wild, highly social monkeys are being illegally caught, shoved into cages
and exported to the US for animal testing – and one of the biggest medical
labs is profiting off of them. Let’s make it stop!

A new investigation shows how long-tailed macaques in South-East Asia are
being caught in the wild, then falsely labeled as captive-bred. It’s a
massive monkey-laundering scheme! This does not only threaten the survival
of the species in the wild, it also poses a public health risk: wild
macaques can spread deadly diseases.

One of the biggest US medical labs, Charles River, says it only imports
captive-bred monkeys – but now their link to monkey trafficking is being
scrutinized. Let's pile on the pressure, force them to dump the
traffickers – and save these wild macaques!

[ [link removed] ]Charles River Laboratories: No more monkey business – end the illegal
trade!

Long-tailed macaques are the most traded, the most culled, and the most
persecuted primate species in the world. Despite being endangered in the
wild, they are bred in massive facilities across South-East Asia for
export to biomedical labs in the US. 

The latest investigation by Sandy River Research shows how the numbers of
exported monkeys just don’t add up with the capacity of breeding
facilities in Cambodia and Vietnam, suggesting that these businesses are
catching monkeys in the wild, laundering them and then selling them as
captive-bred.

Charles River Laboratories, one of the biggest buyers in the US, says that
it puts all monkey suppliers through “enhanced due diligence,
documentation, monitoring and auditing”. But it doesn’t even list all the
breeding farms from which it buys long-tailed macaques – so how can they
claim that?

To make it worse, the lab was involved in a huge tuberculosis outbreak
among imported macaques in 2023, and was subpoenaed by the US Department
of Justice in relation to its Cambodian supply chain.

In other words: This monkey business is not only endangering an entire
species, but posing a massive public health risk. But with this latest
investigation, they’ve come under scrutiny – let’s use this momentum and
make Charles River cut wild monkeys from its supply chain, and end the
illegal monkey trade for good.

[ [link removed] ]Charles River Laboratories: No more monkey business – clean up your
long-tailed macaque supply chains!



[ [link removed] ] Sign the petition 



Thanks for all that you do,
Rosa, Danny, and the team at Ekō


More information:

[ [link removed] ]Report alleges criminality in Cambodian, Vietnamese monkey trade
Mongabay. 21 April, 2025

[ [link removed] ]Fate of 1,000 trafficked lab monkeys at center of US investigation in
limbo
The Guardian. 20 March, 2023

[ [link removed] ]Removal from the wild endangers the once widespread long-tailed macaque
American Journal of Primatology (via NIH). 04 September, 2023

 

 

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