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A February meeting could bring about the end of the trade in macaque monkeys commonly used in medical research.
Representatives from Canada and the other 179 signatories to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will meet in Geneva during the first week of February to discuss the situation.
The CITES secretariat recently advised all member nations to suspend macaque trade from Cambodia, saying results of a new confidential report raise concerns that the primates are being captured in the wild instead of being bred in captivity, with their origins concealed.
Long-tailed macaques from Cambodia are currently sent to a biomedical research facility in Montreal run by Charles River Laboratories, an American pharmaceutical company. They are used in the development of medical treatments and vaccines, including those for cancer, diabetes, and COVID-19. Canada’s import of long-tailed macaques surged in 2023, with 4,789 live macaques arriving — a 500 per cent increase from the previous year.
The CITES probe revealed five of Cambodia’s six breeding facilities reported there were more monkeys born there than what is biologically possible, raising suspicions that macaques are being captured in the wild and being laundered as monkeys bred in captivity.
The United States banned imports of macaques from Cambodia last year. In early 2023, Charles River Laboratories faced shipment denials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife authorities for failing to verify that long-tailed macaques from Cambodia were not illegally captured and were falsely labeled as captive-bred on CITES permits. The U.S. ban led Charles River Labs to redirect imports to Canada.
Canadian scientists worry that wild monkeys will spread zoonotic diseases which can spread from animals to humans like COVID-19 and are calling for a ban on macaque imports from Cambodia. They also point out that long-tailed macaques are listed as an endangered species, primarily because too many were captured for medical research.
The report also pointed to discrepancies in trade data that showed countries are bringing in more monkeys than Cambodia reports its shipping abroad. CITES officials are urging Cambodia to respond by the end of this month to ensure the recommendation can be reviewed ahead of the February meeting.
Samuel Lafontaine, spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada, said Canada “strictly” monitors wildlife imports to ensure compliance with international and federal regulations designed to protect wildlife and has found no evidence of non-compliance with Canadian law.
The CITES secretariat recently advised all member nations to suspend macaque trade from Cambodia, saying results of a new confidential report raise concerns that the primates are being captured in the wild instead of being bred in captivity. #Macaque
He said Canada is aware of CITES recommendations to halt trade in Cambodian macaques, and the American ban, and will assess what action to take after the February meeting.
A statement from Charles River Laboratories insists the company is doing nothing wrong and points to the importance of continued trade. Non-human primates play a “vital role” in the development of organ transplantation, and treatment of many diseases and vaccine development, the statement said.
“We protect the health and well-being of the animals in our care, our employees, and the communities in which we work, all in support of the discovery and development of innovative new patient therapies and treatments.”
Nonetheless, a number of scientists are continuing to push for a halt in trade of macaques from Cambodia to Canada. Dr. Michael Schillaci, anthropology professor at the University of Toronto, and Dr. Jesse Greener, chemistry professor at Université Laval, signed a new letter last week urging Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault to shut it down. The professors note that as a signatory to CITES, Canada is legally obligated to uphold wildlife trade rules. A group of over 80 Canadian academics had previously called on Canada’s environment ministry to stop macaque imports from Cambodia.
Earlier this week, Hamilton MP Matthew Green and McMaster researcher Tracy Prowse added their voices to those who want trade in macaques from Cambodia to stop, raising ethical concerns and warning of public health risks.
Last week’s letter from the Canadian professors also claims that despite the U.S. ban, Charles River Laboratories in Quebec is exporting biological samples such as blood, plasma, and tissues derived from imported Cambodian macaques in Canada to the United States. Schillaci criticized Canada for facilitating this trade, calling the country a “chop shop” for laundering parts of these endangered primates.
Lisa Jones-Engel, senior science advisor for primate experimentation at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and shared them with Canada’s National Observer.
She calls this practice “monkey laundering,” and says Charles River is exploiting Canada as a loophole to continue their operations. “It’s outrageous, cynical, and dangerous — and it should be illegal,” Jones-Engel said.
Charles River did not respond to questions regarding the redirection of monkey-derived samples to the U.S.