Traffic and Trade in Owl Monkeys

Trade can have serious implications for primate species. Owl monkeys (Aotus spp.) have historically been a principal species traded for biomedical research. Individuals found in the biomedical trade continue to be sourced from captive-bred, wild, and semi-wild populations. The number of legally traded owl monkey body parts or derivatives registered with CITES is increasing, while the only trade of live individuals since 1990 is from Peru. There are estimates that numbers of owl monkeys trafficked illegally for biomedical experiments to Colombia during 1994–2011 are at least as great as the global legal trade. Owl monkeys are commonly found in the illegal pet trade, which is larger and has more serious implications than the legal trade, and trafficking in live animals is the main form of domestic trade. Reported numbers consistently underestimate the true scale of the problem, and current levels of enforcement are insufficient to properly combat trafficking.