Why Can’t You Keep A Monkey In The House?

Monkeys, and primates in general, are animals that attract a lot of people’s attention, due to their proximity to mankind. But this should never turn into the dangerous  whim of keeping a monkey in the house. These beings are not suitable for home life.

Like all exotic animals, their needs are very particular (without forgetting the very high cost to manage them). Plus, there are a number of reasons why you should never force a monkey to be your pet. Let’s see why.

Holding a monkey is prohibited in many countries

In countries like Italy, by virtue of a 1996 decree law, the possession of primates by private individuals is prohibited and considered illegal. These specimens can only be kept in zoos, bio parks or in organizations working on conservation and research projects.

Unfortunately, this is not enough to prevent the buying and selling of monkeys on the black market. However, their purchase can lead to prison sentences and heavy fines, since it is directly fomenting and encouraging the illegal trafficking of endangered species.

In many cases they are allegedly sold with documents that can easily be forged. Not all countries have regulations regarding the keeping of monkeys, which is why we often see, in some videos on the internet, people with monkeys in their homes. However, there are many reasons why you should  never keep a monkey as a pet, even if it is legal in the country you are in.

They can transmit very dangerous diseases

Since they are primates, like humans, the transmission of diseases occurs much more directly and quickly. This means that having a monkey in your home carries a huge health risk.

There are diseases that are not dangerous for these animals, because they are healthy carriers, but which could be lethal for you and your family members. An example is herpesvirus B , present in macaque populations, which causes a fatal neurological disease in humans .

When these animals are acquired illegally, they are never seen by any vet and, of course, they have not even been vaccinated. This is why it is common for these animals to carry diseases such as AIDS and can infect you with a simple bite.

For them it is a psychological trauma

Unlike most animals that live with humans, having a monkey as a pet means forcing it to be what it is not. All primates require long periods of learning with the mother, and this time can even be around 10 years.

This means that, by snatching them from their mother too early, these animals do not know how to behave and end up being humanized. Unfortunately, most of the monkeys that are kept indoors end up being abandoned. Back in freedom, they have now lost the habit of living free and this leads to an irrecoverable psychological trauma.

Relationships between mothers and babies are so important in primates that many mothers often struggle to the death  to prevent the cubs from being kidnapped. It often happens to see these cute monkeys stained with maternal blood as they are carried by poachers who feed the illegal market.

In the event that these animals are raised in captivity to be sold, the mothers are separated from the cubs. There are cases of mothers who stop eating and allow themselves to die of pain. Do you really want to foment this terrible violence? But let’s go on …

To bring these animals into cities illegally, they are often transported in a terrible way, in suitcases or plastic packaging, and many animals  end up asphyxiated. It is estimated that for every animal that survives and is sold, nine will die in transit. In short, we are talking about one of the greatest cases of abuse against animals.

Monkeys are always abandoned

It is impossible to keep a monkey as a pet for a long time in a house. They share expressions and ways of doing things with humans that seem similar but hold totally different meanings. This causes misunderstandings and makes coexistence problematic. Until a child or a guest gets a bite from your “housekeeper” monkey.

Many specimens are very long-lived and can live from 20 to 60 years. This means that when they stop being small, docile and nice, they are regularly abandoned. Nobody likes to keep a big big ape, strong and dangerous, inside the home. Sometimes they are even left to die of hardship in the cellar or taken to the slaughterhouse, to avoid fines resulting from the illegal possession of a primate.

Those who have more luck are placed in the rehabilitation centers for monkeys, where they try to re-educate them to the wild life, making them overcome the traumas of human coexistence. This process is very long, it can take more than 10 years to allow the monkey to overcome phobias and fears. In many cases this is impossible, and these noble animals are condemned to live alone for the time they have left.