From Confinement to Life in Full Color: Support the Captive Primate Safety Act

In March of 2025 we took in a mandrill who had only known a life of neglect. We were informed during the rescue process that he had spent most of his life confined to a cement cage inside someone’s garage and kept as a “pet”. At around 21 years old, he suffered from osteoarthritis, likely caused by his age and years of immobility, and would need lifelong attention to provide him the medications and care he needed.

On his very first day at WRR, outside at last, he sat quietly in the new enclosure, gently running his fingers through the grass. We will never know what was going through his mind in that moment, but those of us who had the pleasure to see him finally come out of a cage were so happy he was back in Nature.

Support the Captive Primate Safety Act

Non-human primates can never live safely or humanely as “pets”. These highly intelligent animals have complex physical and psychological needs. Individuals like this mandrill are meant to live wild and free, and they suffer deeply when that freedom is taken from them. Many of these animals are stolen from their wild homes, where they are separated from their families, before being trafficked into the United States. Violating their evolved nature and forcing them to live in confinement is deeply unfair to them and poses a serious safety threat for humans, too.

The Captive Primate Safety Act (H.R.3199/ S.1594) was reintroduced into Congress this year. If enacted, it would help protect apes, monkeys, and other nonhuman primates by prohibiting the private ownership and interstate or foreign commerce of non-human primates for the cruel “pet” trade.

Together, we can create a brighter future for animals.