How to save our monkeys and stop the animal cruelty business in Mauritius?

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baby monkey For those who are not aware, monkey capture and export is a booming business in Mauritius and it's been more than 5 years that people are trying to stop this practice. Our monkeys are captured and caged and forced to live and breed in conditions which are completely different to what they are used to.

The average selling price of a monkey is $3,000 (US dollars) so you can imagine why this has become a profitable business. Countries like France, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US buy our monkeys for laboratory testing and I'm sure you can imagine the ordeal they go through as all sort of things are tested on them (which can last for months) after which they are killed.

The are 5 main companies responsible for the monkey trading in Mauritius:

The Campeche Ltd
Primatological Ltd
Bio Culture (Mauritius Ltd)
Biodia Co Ltd
Prima Cyno Ltd

There was a time when Mauritius, being such a tiny island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, was unknown to many people and now it seems to have become very famous but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. We are the second largest exporter of monkeys for lab testing but I'm sure we're on our way to beat China which stands first.

Let's fight this together - http://saveourmonkeys.mu

What other things can be done to stop this?

17 Replies

Madeleine_Stella Level 1

That baby monkey picture is soooooo cute!!!

Can't believe Mauritius is the second biggest exporter of monkeys in the world, let alone it being involved in this dirty & immoral business.

1 Reply

sarah_7 Level 2

so successive governments have encouraged this practise

Peaches Level 3

Unfortunately people in Mauritius do not have freedom of speech or human rights so it is impossible to even think about animal rights. Also the government get a lot of money in taxes by these businesses, so for them it helps the economy (supposedly).

Don't get me wrong I am an active supporter against animal cruelty and do not agree with monkeys being used for any kind of testing but in Mauritius people do not care that much and have no money to donate to charities that can help save the monkeys.

I will be sharing this on facebook to raise awareness in the hope that people will start caring but I won't hold my breath.

Iron_Man Level 2

We should make the whole Mauritian population aware of the consequences behind this business. Because the ecosystem will become more fragile if we continue like this. There should be campaigns to protect the monkeys. But the problem is that no one is talking about this. I didn't even know anything until I saw your question. Its like people just don't care about their environment...

gices Level 6

Well you can start by sharing the link on your Facebook page, Twitter or G+ or even send an email to all your contacts. Like you said not many people know about this but by raising awareness of the problem, more people will sign the petition and help save the monkeys.

Khush_Mendossa Level 3

Yeah sharing is a great way to increase awareness indeed.

I suspect that some of the monkeys are traded to be eaten.

Iron_Man Level 2

Unfortunately I recently deactivated my Facebook account... :(

Khush_Mendossa Level 3

Do you have G+ by the way?

Iron_Man Level 2

Neither G+ nor Twitter.

Khush_Mendossa Level 3

Good you have CleverDodo then :p

gices Level 6

@Iron_Man : Log into your email account and hit the send email to all my contacts button then, lol. No facebook, g+ or twitter, you must be working hard at revising then :)

Iron_Man Level 2

haha the facebook part is just temporary. I'm revising hard but facebook really has some sort of importance. ;)

Khush_Mendossa Level 3

Some months ago, I was made aware of this situation. Watched videos of how they mistreated the monkeys. Contacted the BUAV organisation and they guided me to saveourmonkeys.mu

The only thing I could do as a student was to sign up petitions, join facebook group and make some other people aware of the situation of monkeys in Mauritius.

Even sent email to the Prime Minister. (But heard nothing afterwards).

I'm an animal lover and protector. Asked them where were the fields exactly but no response.

What I can do is after my exams in some weeks, I can make more people aware of this situation. But will that be sufficient to stop this?

Monkeys are a symbol of the God Hanuman in Hinduism. If I can convey this message to people perhaps the business of monkey trading will begin to end.

gices Level 6

Prima Cyno Ltd has a farm of 6.2 acres at Mare d’Australia in the district of Flacq which can accommodate upto 10,000 monkeys.

I suppose the only thing we can do at the moment is support BUAV by signing up the petition to stop it and to pass on the message to other people.

Khush_Mendossa Level 3

By the way, the monkey picture is out of the margin. It's overlapping with Top Contributors.

Do you know if there has been any 'protestation' recently for this case?