A British vet has spoken out about why he believes monkeys should never be kept as pets.
Content creator @ben.the.vet shared his expertise in a video on TikTok, where he has more than 206,000 followers.
In the clip, he explained how many monkeys end up becoming pets – and why they're not suitable for domesticated homes.
In his video, Ben says: “I'm a vet and I want to talk about why having a monkey as a pet is an absolutely terrible idea.”
He further explains that he has experience working voluntarily with the animals and learning about their needs.
Veterinarian Ben the Vet (pictured) has explained why he believes monkeys should not be kept as vets – and said other vets and animal welfare organizations agree with him
Ben continues: “I was volunteering at a wildlife rehabilitation center in the rainforest of Ecuador a few years ago and many of the animals brought here were baby monkeys.”
According to the veterinarian, these baby monkeys were “taken from the wild by poachers – often by shooting the mothers so that they could more easily capture the baby.”
Then the Ecuadorian authorities intercept some of these baby monkeys that are destined for sale abroad, he explains.
“These were usually available as pets in the United States,” he says, adding, “for a lot of money.”
When it comes to why it's a bad idea to keep a baby monkey as a pet, Ben explains: “A monkey is not the same as a human baby.”
“And it’s not the same as keeping a cat or dog as a pet.”
He adds that monkeys are “not domesticated animals, but highly intelligent wild animals.”
“Keeping them as pets,” he explains, “is extremely difficult to meet their needs.”
In his video, Ben (pictured) explained that as wild animals, we just don't do that
He concludes the video by saying, “Speak to a veterinarian or animal rescue organization and they will tell you that monkeys should not be kept as pets.”
The vast majority of respondents in the comments agreed with his opinion, adding that they also believed that keeping monkeys as pets was a bad idea for the animals.
One wrote: “Thank you for highlighting an important issue as so many primates are kept as pets in the UK #Primatesarenotpets”
To this, Ben replied that it is estimated that around 5,000 primates are kept as pets in the UK.
Another viewer added: “As a biology student I can't even understand how anyone could think of keeping a wild animal as a pet. “I'm just speechless.”
I'm a veterinarian and that's why you should NEVER keep a baby monkey as a pet – people don't understand what they're getting into