PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
PRIMATES AS PETS (5 June 2005)

That this House notes with concern the continuing trade in primates as pets in the UK; believes that the intelligence, sensitivity and wild nature of monkeys and apes make them unsuitable to be kept in the home; recognises that illegal trade in wild caught monkeys for the international pet market is one of the major threats to many primate populations and species; further notes that the results of the recent IFAW investigation into this trade exposed 146 primates advertised for sale on the Internet in just one week, including chimpanzees, lemurs, a gibbon and a gorilla; is alarmed that pet shops in the UK offered to source endangered primates as pets; is concerned that the proposed delisting of primates under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 will lead to a significant increase in the trade; and calls on the Government immediately to implement Article 8.2 of Commission Regulation (EU) 338/97 to phase out the keeping of primates in private ownership and to prohibit any future ownership of primates as pets.

Sponsored by:
Mr Eric Martlew (Labour)