Monkeys Belong in Rain Forests, Not on Film Sets, Says Primatologist Kari Bagnall
For Immediate Release:
September 21, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Gainesville, Fla. -- In response to the news that Cameron Crowe's upcoming film, We Bought a Zoo, features a capuchin monkey and other wild animals, Kari Bagnall, the founder and director of Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary in Gainesville, Fla., has sent the director an urgent letter asking him to promise never again to use primates in his films. In the letter, Bagnall explains that films such as We Bought a Zoo often inspire people to mistakenly seek out monkeys to keep as "pets," only to cast the intelligent animals off when it proves difficult to care for them.
"The principal problem with primates in the entertainment industry or as pets is that they are literally stolen from their mothers' arms as early as 3 days old!" writes Bagnall. "Capuchin monkeys live on their mothers' back and can nurse until they are 2 years old. You can imagine the horror both mother and baby must feel during this forced separation."
For more information, please visit PETA.org and JungleFriends.org.
Kari Bagnall's
letter to Cameron Crowe follows.
September 21, 2011
Cameron Crowe
Director of We Bought a Zoo
Dear Mr. Crowe:
I am writing to you about an issue very close to my heart – capuchin monkeys. I am the founder of Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary and we have approximately 100 capuchin monkeys at the sanctuary and more on our waiting list. Most of the monkeys came from the exotic pet trade, others from the entertainment industry and laboratory research.
The use of monkeys for entertainment perpetuates the exotic pet trade and encourages primates as "pets." The principal problem with primates in the entertainment industry or as pets is that they are literally stolen from their mother‟s arms as early as 3 days old! Capuchin monkeys live on their mother‟s back and can nurse until they are 2 years old. You can imagine the horror both mother and baby must feel during this forced separation.
I have cared for capuchin monkeys for nearly twenty years. Capuchins are highly intelligent, inquisitive, and social monkeys who lead very active lives. Life as a pet or in the entertainment industry denies monkeys everything that is natural, including proper exercise and a balanced diet.
Many of the monkeys arrive at Jungle Friends with diabetes, autoimmune disorder, metabolic bone disease, depression, anxiety and a host of atypical behaviors, such as rocking, digit sucking, self-grasping and self-mutilating. Most lived lonely lives of species isolation and torment. Please do not promote their suffering by using live animals in your next show, especially in this day and age when we have humane, modern technology available, such as advanced animatronics or computer-generated imagery!
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I also invite you to visit Jungle Friends and see the monkeys here who live with other monkeys and who are busy all day doing „monkey things.‟
Thank you so much for listening to my plea. I am sure you are not aware of what goes on „behind the scenes‟ for monkeys used in this way. Please, do the right thing and do not use live animals for your next show.
Very sincerely,
Kari Bagnall
Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary
Founder/Director