This video from Animal Defenders International (ADI) shares the story of four monkeys who have been rescued from the illegal pet trade. Watch their release at the ADI monkey facility at Pilpintuwasi Animal Orphanage in the Amazon rainforest!

Pirate, Matias, Otto, and Chepa are three monkeys that were illegally stolen from the wild and sold as pets by animal traffickers in Lima, the capital city of Peru. Thankfully, the Peruvian wildlife officials from SERFOR found two of the monkeys and brought them to safety. The other two monkeys were found left alone at a restaurant. Luckily, someone was there to look after them until they found a more permanent home at the ADI monkey facility.

Jan Creamer, President of ADI, said, “This is a happy ending for these monkeys. What must the four little capuchins have been thinking as they: Heard the sounds of the forest burst into life that morning, the air filled with the calls of other monkeys; smelt the lush, damp vegetation; saw the cage door open and the forest beckon; touched and tasted the leaves of the plants?”

Taking these animals from the wild for our enjoyment is driving them toward extinction, which not only eliminates a species but puts others in danger by disrupting delicate ecosystems. Exotic animals belong in the wild. If the demand for exotic pets did not exist, the exotic pet trade would not exist. So, if you agree that keeping exotic animals as pets is cruel, don’t Support it either. Do not buy from pet shops or dealers. Leave the wild in the wild.

Animal shelters are filled with cats and dogs who need loving families and homes. You can also Support the legislation to ban the ownership of exotic animals. With over 200 million live animal trades having taken place since 1975, governments must crack down on this cruel trade to protect individual animals and threatened species. 

Related Content:

• We Must End the Primate Pet Trade Before More People Get Attacked or Killed
• 5 Animals That are Victims of the Exotic Pet Trade
• Overweight Tree Frog That Went Viral Highlights Cruelty Within Reptile Pet Trade
• How Our Obsession With Pocket Pets Fuels the Exotic Pet Trade
• New Report Finds that the EU is a Hotspot for Exotic Pet Trade

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