- The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is considering a total ban on the sale of endangered Cambodian long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), and the CITES secretariat recommends suspending trade until Cambodian authorities outline measures to prevent wild monkey laundering through breeding facilities.
- This comes after Cambodian authorities responded to questions posed by the CITES animals committee in July 2024 regarding discrepancies between reported trade data and suspiciously high reproductive rates among captive-bred monkeys.
- The high birth rate among Cambodia’s breeding facilities suggests “that some regular supply of wild specimens was necessary (at least in the past) to maintain a high reproductive output at least in some facilities,” the animal committee wrote.
- Animal rights activists say this could be a game changer for the biomedical research industry.
The trade of endangered long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) from Cambodia should be suspended, according to recommendations announced Jan. 14 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) secretariat.
The trade of long-tailed macaques from other countries, including Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines, was recommended to remain under review, but CITES is now considering a total ban on the sale of Cambodian long-tailed macaques.
The CITES secretariat recommends that trade be suspended until Cambodian authorities outline measures implemented to prevent the laundering of wild monkeys through breeding facilities, noting that the volume of births reported in five of the country’s six registered monkey-breeding facilities is “disproportionately high relative to what is considered biologically possible.”
Cambodian authorities were also requested to implement proper logbooks for all births and deaths, as well as genetic parenthood tests to monitor reproduction rates.
Cambodia’s national CITES representatives were given until Jan. 30, 2026, to respond, and the CITES standing committee will decide whether to adopt the recommended trade suspension on the morning of Feb. 4 at the forthcoming CITES meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
‘Impossible on a regular basis’
The recommendation to suspend trade comes after Cambodian authorities responded to questions posed by the CITES animals committee in July 2024 regarding discrepancies between reported trade data and suspiciously high reproductive rates among captive-bred monkeys. The committee’s assessment of the Cambodian response was published in December 2024 and factored in analysis from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service that concluded the reproduction rate of captive-bred monkeys “extremely high and can be deemed impossible on a regular basis.”
The birth rate among captive-bred long-tailed macaques in five of Cambodia’s six facilities was listed as three offspring every two years per female, while a typical birth rate for the species would see females give birth to a single infant every year or two, due to the average 162-day pregnancy followed by an average break of 390 days between pregnancies.
As such, the birth rate among Cambodia’s breeding facilities suggests “that some regular supply of wild specimens was necessary (at least in the past) to maintain a high reproductive output at least in some facilities,” the animal committee wrote.
The CITES secretariat did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but should the standing committee enact the trade suspension, then all 184 countries party to CITES will be unable to import long-tailed macaques from Cambodia or reexport specimens that originated from Cambodia.
Between 2004 and 2023, Cambodia has exported more than 300,000 live long-tailed macaques and nearly 125,000 specimens, including 1,620 skulls, according to CITES trade data. The U.S. has long been a dominant destination for Cambodian monkeys, importing more than 30,000 live long-tailed macaques in 2022 alone.
Monkeys caught in fraught standoff
This “could change the game,” according to Lisa Jones-Engel, senior science adviser on primate issues at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
“I think when this lists, the consequences for the biomedical research industry will ripple widely,” she said in a phone interview with Mongabay. “The suspension will be in effect immediately, meaning Canada won’t be able to reexport the thousands of monkeys imported from Cambodia and clients will have spent millions on research but won’t be able to get their data — this will be the final nail in the coffin.”
PETA has long opposed the use of animals in laboratory testing, particularly the use of long-tailed macaques, which have been favored by the pharmaceutical industry on account of the species’ genetic similarity to humans, allowing for medical breakthroughs, including the development of COVID-19 vaccines. But these scientific achievements have come at a steep price for long-tailed macaques, with the species’ removal from the wild deemed a driving factor in the population’s decline, leading to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listing them as endangered in 2022.
Lobbyists for the biomedical research industry, most notably the National Association for the Biomedical Research (NABR) in the United States, have opposed the endangered species status conferred upon long-tailed macaques by the IUCN and called for a review while simultaneously attempting to portray scientists involved in the IUCN listing as activists.
Similarly, on Oct. 7, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rejected a petition filed in April 2023 by PETA, Born Free, renowned primatologist Jane Goodall and other advocates to have long-tailed macaques protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. While reviews of such petitions are supposed to take no longer than 90 days, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took more than 500 days before officially rejecting the petition.
Sources within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not respond to questions sent by Mongabay regarding the rejection of the petition or their role in the potential CITES ban.
PETA has since launched a new petition in a Jan. 27 appeal to the new U.S. administration under President Donald Trump.
The Oct. 7 verdict was celebrated by the NABR, whose president Matthew R. Bailey was quoted in a press release as saying “Available scientific information clearly shows that this species is not at risk and does not warrant a further status review. NABR looks forward to working with USFWS to ensure the integrity of its scientific processes.”
The NABR did not respond to questions sent by Mongabay regarding the looming CITES decision or the populations of long-tailed macaques in Cambodia and beyond.
Cambodia at the center of controversy
The severity of the problem in Cambodia is belied by the proposed ban — the last time CITES banned the trade of a primate species was in 2016, which was the first time in 30 years prior that CITES had increased the protection of any monkey species.
As deforestation soars in Cambodia and wildlife habitats across the country are fractured and degraded, the long-tailed macaques have been pushed into closer contact with urban populations. The Forestry Administration deemed the species a pest and has been capturing monkeys, promising to release them into the wild, but as the CITES animal committee noted, it appears likely that many end up as specimens at breeding facilities.
A 2022 study by the Wildlife Conservation Society found that in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected forest in the east of Cambodia near the border with Vietnam, the wild population of long-tailed macaques dropped 49-55% in the previous 12 years.
Conservationists whom Mongabay contacted declined to speak on the record, citing the sensitivity of the issue.
The potential CITES ban comes after eight people, including two senior Cambodian Forestry Administration officials, were indicted by U.S. federal prosecutors in November 2022 who alleged a lucrative monkey-laundering ring was operating in Cambodia with help from national CITES representatives.
The indictment led to the arrest of Kry Masphal, then deputy director of the Forestry Administration’s Department of Wildlife and Biodiversity, on Nov. 16, 2022, while he was traveling through the U.S. to a conference on the global wildlife trade being held in Panama. Masphal was arrested as part of a years-long investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, prompting a sharp spike in scrutiny over Cambodia’s monkey trade.
Masphal was acquitted by a jury in Miami, Florida,on March 22 and returned to his previous role in Cambodia, despite video evidence showing him encouraging monkey-breeding facility staff to build new roads to further enable smuggling. Keo Omaliss, director-general of Cambodia’s Forestry Administration, was also named in the indictment but has so far not stood trial and could not be reached for comment on the matter.
Neither the chairman nor deputy chairman of Cambodia’s national CITES management authority responded to questions sent by Mongabay regarding the potential CITES ban, nor did a spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries under which the Forestry Administration sits.
Since Masphal’s arrest, the number of live long-tailed macaque exports fell roughly 65% from 37,920 in 2022 to 13,305 in 2023, according to CITES data, although these are figures reported by the Cambodian government. CITES itself has no investigative or enforcement arm, meaning much of the data is reliant on Cambodian officials abiding by the convention’s directives. The U.S., by contrast, saw monkey imports from across the globe fall by 53% between 2019 and 2024, with data from the Center for Disease Control, acquired and published by PETA, showing that 2024 saw the lowest volume of monkeys imported for five years.
“This is huge progress; it’s unprecedented,” said Jones-Engel of the potential ban on the trade of Cambodian long-tailed macaques. “The [biomedical research] industry has never had this kind of exposure before.
Banner image:Long-tailed macaques in Kampong Cham province, Cambodia by Gerry Flynn/Mongabay.
Cambodian official acquitted in trial that exposed monkey-laundering scheme
FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.
Credits
