A baby spider monkey found running loose through a San Antonio, Texas neighborhood has been rescued by Primarily Primates. Rest assured he will receive proper, lifelong care, along with our more than 300 residents, including nine other spider monkeys. You can donate towards his care at https://primarilyprimates.org/.

PPI received a call from City of San Antonio Animal Care Services on Tuesday, June 18. Staff informed us that a juvenile spider monkey in a diaper had been rescued from a neighborhood in the Northwest side of the city. The monkey had been loose, and the owners were not immediately known, but since spider monkeys are prohibited in San Antonio, he was immediately confiscated. 

“After seeing pictures, we estimated that he is less than one year old. ACS arrived with him around 5 p.m. and we went about getting him settled in,” said Nicole Benson, development manager at PPI. “He seems to have been on a poor diet because he is unfamiliar with chow or formula, but care staff members have been working with him, and he is eating and drinking better than he was when he arrived.” 

Benson said per protocol the spider monkey will be in quarantine in PPI’s veterinary clinic for two weeks. Eventually when he is bigger and stronger he will be released into an outdoor habitat and be introduced to other spider monkeys.

This incident underscores the need to pass the federal Captive Primate Safety Act. The CPSA, which was reintroduced May 8, would prohibit the sale, breeding and possession of nonhuman primates for the pet trade. At PPI we see firsthand just how incompatible these two lifestyles are. A staggering 100 of our 199 primates at PPI are ex-pets—including lemurs, spider monkeys, capuchins and chimps.

 The inadequate patchwork of state legislation regulating private primate possession makes it far too easy for individuals to purchase wild animals from the internet and transport them over state lines.  

“Monkeys and apes belong in the wild, not in living rooms,” said US. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL), a co-sponsor of the legislation.

We couldn’t agree more.