Last weekend, a visitor at the El Paso Zoo climbed in to a spider monkey enclosure and attempted to hand-feed two monkeys. A video of the incident circulated online, showing a disturbing and dangerous interaction. Although the monkeys never made physical contact with the woman other than swiping at her hand, they engaged in several assertive behavioral displays that indicated they felt threatened by her presence. Agitated and frightened, and acting on their natural wild instincts, the monkeys cornered the woman for the majority of the 30-second video and lunged at her as she exited their enclosure. Luckily, the moat surrounding the perimeter of the enclosure acted as a barrier that the monkeys were unwilling to cross, allowing the woman to escape unscathed.
This incident rings an all too familiar bell of previously reported unsafe wild animal encounters at zoos, too many of which ended with the person and/or animals involved suffering injuries or even fatalities. Between 1990 and 2019, Born Free USA has recorded 613 concerning or dangerous incidents involving wild animals at AZA accredited zoos, including 15 incidents that resulted in the death of a human.
One famous example of a zoo visit gone horribly wrong is the case of Harambe, a western lowland gorilla who was shot and killed at the Cincinnati Zoo in 2016 after a three-year-old boy fell into his enclosure. However, other incidents abound. The glass to a gorilla enclosure cracked at the Henry Doorly Zoo after a male gorilla charged at a young girl who was beating her chest at him from outside the enclosure. A woman lifted her two-year-old child high to see into an African painted dog exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo, causing the boy to fall into the enclosure, where he was attacked and tragically killed. A nine-year-old girl at the Minnesota Zoo found her way into a meerkat enclosure and was bitten by the animals, putting her at risk for rabies exposure.
Incidents like this are usually followed by press articles describing what zoo visitors can do to stay safe. A 2016 CNN Health article, published in the wake of death of Harambe, advised parents to not let children tease animals; to not dangle their children over enclosures; and to constantly supervise children while at the zoo. The article concludes by advising parents to teach children to respect animals. But how can we realistically teach children (and adults) to respect animals, who are meant to be living in the wild, inside small, artificial zoo enclosures, held captive for the sake of human amusement and entertainment?
While zoos fervently acknowledge that the wild animals at their facilities are dangerous, including the spider monkeys involved in the most recent incident, it remains legal to own many of these same dangerous wild animals as pets in Texas and other U.S. states, including many primate species. With physical interactions between humans and wild animals at zoos resulting in substantial injuries, imagine the risk of injury presented by owning a large primate in a home without the (arguable) protection of locked enclosures and trained staff.
The Captive Primate Safety Act was reintroduced in Congress on May 12, 2021. This bill would not only prohibit the interstate commerce of primates as pets, but would also ban the private ownership of these species, with exemptions for certain licensed facilities, and restrict direct contact between the public and monkeys and apes.
Take Action on the Captive Primate Safety Act
Please speak out in support of this important legislation, in the interests of the safety and well-being of all primates – human and non-human alike!
For the Animals,
Devan
