Sign our Parliamentary e-Petition today!
The Issue:
On Saturday, August 10, 2024, a SkyTaxi cargo plane loaded with wooden crates containing hundreds of monkeys who had been boxed up days before in Cambodia, touched down at Montréal-Mirabel airport. The flight landed despite being denied a landing permit the day before by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA).
These monkeys are long-tailed macaques, a species listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
Over the past 19 months, following increased scrutiny by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) of shipments of Cambodian-origin monkeys into the U.S., more than 6,000 of these endangered macaques have arrived in Canada from Cambodia, according to publicly available Canadian trade databases. Canada appears now to be the number one global destination for monkeys at the center of an international investigation into the alleged trafficking of wild-caught primates. The pain, suffering, and terror that these typically 1- to 2-year-old macaques endure is undeniable and well documented, as is the consistent failure of experiments that rely on the monkeys to result in safe and reliable drugs and treatments to improve human health.
Violations of Canadian and International Regulations
The importer of these endangered monkeys and the air carrier flying them flagrantly violated the Canada Transportation Act on three separate occasions in 2024. These violations only came to the Canadian Transportation Agency’s attention because of concerns raised by Animal Alliance and partner organizations, PETA, and Abolición Vivisección.
In addition, unlike the U.S., Canada does not have transport regulations specific to primates. Instead, these animals fall under the category of ‘other animals’ in the Health of Animals Regulations and may be transported for up to 36 hours without food, water and rest.
Putting Montréal on the Map of Possible Illegal Wildlife Trafficking
In July 2024, the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Secretariat’s Animals Committee acknowledged the concerns that Cambodia is exporting wild-caught moneys under a fraudulent source code and stated its commitment to maintain additional scrutiny of endangered monkeys exported from Cambodia to determine whether the trade is legal, sustainable and traceable. The CITES’ Secretariat’s concerns and intentions are clear, however enforcement of CITES regulations falls to CITES Management Authorities in member countries, meaning it is the responsibility of Canadian authorities to prevent the illegal wildlife trade of endangered long-tailed macaques.
Canada must apply the same level of scrutiny over these imports as U.S. CITES Management Authorities have.
How You Can Help!
We are asking supporters to send an email to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Julie Dabrusin to urge her to stop the importation of long-tailed macaques into Canada. We have a pre-written email below and we encourage you to add in your own respectful comments as well. It only takes a few moments to send it to her and express how you feel about this issue. Don’t forget to add your name to the end of the email in the box below. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions at all. Thank you very much for using your voice and time to advocate for these beings who deserve a life of freedom in their habitats, not subjected to this exploitation.