VICE World News on Instagram: "Footage provided to VICE World News today shows screeching, terrified wild monkeys, ensnared in nets in the Indonesian forest, captured in order to be sent off to labs in China and the U.S. where they will be subject to medical experimentation.Trappers can be seen laughing as they forcibly remove the captured primates from the traps and separate babies from mothers. Also seen is the brutal treatment of unwanted individuals, with one alpha male beaten and its throat slit with a machete. Long-tailed macaques, a species native to Southeast Asia, are the most widely traded and used primate in research, which involves toxicity testing of new medicines or chemicals. Primates often suffer and die due to these tests, with animal rights groups also questioning their scientific merit. Breeding centres are now prevalent across Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.In 2020, Indonesia alone exported 2,973 farm-bred long-tailed macaques to China and 120 to the U.S. Action for Primates co-founder Sarah Kite told VICE World News that as demand has increased worldwide, long-tailed macaques are now bought for up to $10,000 each. But it’s the practice of capturing wild macaques which is especially controversial. As of November this year, importing wild-caught monkeys into the European Union will be illegal due to animal welfare and ethical issues that arise from pulling the primates from their natural habitat. Rights groups are calling on the US to do the same. But in 2021, after many years of banning the practice, the Indonesian government allowed trappers to resume capturing wild primates for sale abroad. The footage above shows the real-life impact of this.“The resumption of the capture and export of long-tailed macaques by Indonesia is an alarming development,” Kite said. “Especially at a time when there is widespread global concern over and condemnation of the capture of wild non-human primates.”Footage via Action for Primates✍️ @alimacphotos_ " | Zootzle
