Everything. If you want it, they probably have it. Plus, they tend to have "uncommon" things that tend to be expensive at a cheaper price. (Prehensile-Tailed Skinks are an example of this.)
Most exotic animals seen on the pet trade
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Everything. If you want it, they probably have it. Plus, they tend to have "uncommon" things that tend to be expensive at a cheaper price. (Prehensile-Tailed Skinks are an example of this.)
Other than the weasels, all of those are fairly common in roadside/traveling zoos. Tamanduas seem to be becoming the new fad animal to go with sloths, and pale foxes and ruppell's foxes are slowly gaining some ground now that so many places have fennecs and are breeding them on their own.
I imagine Underground sells mostly to average people who want a cool pet, although some zoos may buy from them. I don't have a problem with individuals having most of these as long as they know how to care for them, except for the marmoset and lemur.
Bengal cats are currently slowing in popularity - they've been a registered show breed for more than 30 years in the USA - so very few are caring about F1 generations; those with the money for one want something more exotic than a Bengal at this point. Savannahs have been a championship breed for just 8, and are more exotic-looking, so the demand for servals is still pretty high. Servals are also popular with traveling zoos, since they can do lots of fancy leaps and jumps. Caracats are the newest hybrid and are $$$$$$$ - an f1 hybrid costs much more than a full caracal - so demand for them is going up a lot.
I'm not saying they all purchase from Underground, I'm saying they're not rare in the industry or anything. The zoos buying the species usually want tamer animals, so wouldn't be buying animals that are from the wild anyway. Lemurs are incredibly common, on par with fallow deer and the like.
why's the marmosets and lemurs exempt from your statement.
I don't feel primates should be pets
Any particular reason for this?
Onychorhynchus coronatus
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That is insane !
The average person can't care for them correctly
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
I agree with @Fignewton.
To be honest primates just do not make good pets at all as their general welfare, nutritional and behavioural needs are very complex and hard to meet in captivity for zoos let alone by a pet owner.
I have no doubt that there are some people out there who do keep monkeys or lemurs and do an excellent job with this but I still think that primates shouldn't be kept as pets.
A lot of people still treat primates as things that are there to amuse us, unfortunately, rather than as intelligent beings. I've come across some weird places that keep them. There's a dental in NJ that keeps a pair of capuchins in their waiting room to "provide warmth and comfort for patients of all ages, allowing dental anxiety to take a back seat during any office visit," because "We have always gone to extremes in efforts to make our patients comfortable. It is our philosophy to provide the children of our practice with the highest quality care in the most pleasant atmosphere possible." For me, seeing a primate in an awful cage wouldn't make me "comfortable", especially with the noises they can make.
That makes me mad. This is why I think there should be some regulations put in place for primates. Yes, there are some people that can care for them, but many people treat them like this.
That makes me mad. This is why I think there should be some regulations put in place for primates. Yes, there are some people that can care for them, but many people treat them like this.
They seem to at least hire a part-time AAZK keeper to care for them, vs employees doing it all, but still.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Yes, seemingly no consideration whatsoever given to the comfort or reducing the anxiety of the other highly intelligent and easily stressed primate: the capuchin monkeys.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
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The other problem with primates as pets is that they can become invasive species in many parts of the world. Here in Brazil there are major problems with invasive primates as a result of the illegal pet trade and there are numerous examples of this actually becoming a major conservation issue.
In States like Minas Gerais , Sao Paulo, Rio and Espirito Santo the problem has been principally the common and black eared marmosets (to a lesser extent the Geoffroy's marmoset too) which are not native to the Atlantic rainforest region. These monkeys were and are a popular (though illegal pet) and either escaped or were released from capitivity and have now become very well established due to their tolerance of anthropogenic environments and colonization of forest fragments. The result has been a massive increase in hybridization with native Callitrichid species such as the buffy headed and buffy tufted marmosets, and in conjunction with other anthropogenic threats, this is pushing these primates to the brink of extinction.
In and around Rio city you also have enormous problems with not only invasive marmosets but introduced non-native monkey species such as squirrel monkeys, several capuchin species, howler and spider monkeys. Golden headed lion tamarins are an invasive species that now occupies what is / should be the Golden lion tamarins natural range. It looks like this is a problem in Rio that will be either be immensely difficult or even impossible to solve.
In the city of Manaus in the Brazilian Amazon another huge problem has been the introduction of the invasive midas tamarin which outcompetes the critically endangered pied tamarin (which is already threatened due to habitat loss /urbanization). This introduction has pushed the pied out of a lot of its former territory.
Other incidences of invasive primates have been reported elsewhere in Latin America in countries such as Colombia and Costa Rica. While currently nowhere near as bad a situation as Brazil I'm sure that in many countries these problem will only increase over time.
In States like Minas Gerais , Sao Paulo, Rio and Espirito Santo the problem has been principally the common and black eared marmosets (to a lesser extent the Geoffroy's marmoset too) which are not native to the Atlantic rainforest region. These monkeys were and are a popular (though illegal pet) and either escaped or were released from capitivity and have now become very well established due to their tolerance of anthropogenic environments and colonization of forest fragments. The result has been a massive increase in hybridization with native Callitrichid species such as the buffy headed and buffy tufted marmosets, and in conjunction with other anthropogenic threats, this is pushing these primates to the brink of extinction.
In and around Rio city you also have enormous problems with not only invasive marmosets but introduced non-native monkey species such as squirrel monkeys, several capuchin species, howler and spider monkeys. Golden headed lion tamarins are an invasive species that now occupies what is / should be the Golden lion tamarins natural range. It looks like this is a problem in Rio that will be either be immensely difficult or even impossible to solve.
In the city of Manaus in the Brazilian Amazon another huge problem has been the introduction of the invasive midas tamarin which outcompetes the critically endangered pied tamarin (which is already threatened due to habitat loss /urbanization). This introduction has pushed the pied out of a lot of its former territory.
Other incidences of invasive primates have been reported elsewhere in Latin America in countries such as Colombia and Costa Rica. While currently nowhere near as bad a situation as Brazil I'm sure that in many countries these problem will only increase over time.
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That's a little bit better, but it's still not a good way to keep them.
That makes me mad. This is why I think there should be some regulations put in place for primates. Yes, there are some people that can care for them, but many people treat them like this.
My problem with regulations is that they are usually proposed by animal rights organizations that are presenting themselves as animal welfare organizations usually propose prohibitionist laws that end up punishing everyone including the few that’s trying their best to give their animals at least a decent life.
Now I don’t oppose keeping animals for novel reason as long as they are treated properly (which could be debatable) but this is dumb. Imagine someone throwing a tantrum in the reception and freaking those simians out. And this is in a medical establishment so fatal diseases could still be a concern.
Exactly how are Golden Lion Tamarins invasive within their native range? Surely witch such an endangered species, having them in their original range can only be a good thing?
This is an obvious, and relatively easy, role for Brazilian zoos: educate people not to keep pet primates. Especially good reason is safety of the owner and its family, because baby pet monkeys start attacking people when they grow up. And capture the out-of-place monkeys and rehome them to zoos, at least the minority of former pets which actually established themselves in the wild.