Overview
- An AZA–IFAW–WWF study released Tuesday documented 1,614 live primates in 1,131 posts from 122 accounts across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
- Sellers masked transactions with phrases like “rehoming” or “adoption,” which slipped past automated filters that remove explicit “for sale” language.
- Listings featured macaques, marmosets, capuchins and even chimpanzees, often as infants, which fuels poaching and exposes buyers to disease and aggressive behavior.
- YouTube said it is partnering with WWF to identify violators and Meta removed groups and profiles after inquiries, though researchers report listings still surface.
- Advocates urge Congress to pass the Captive Primate Safety Act, citing patchwork state rules and a $23 billion wildlife trade that draws smugglers through the U.S.–Mexico border.