Abilene Zoo rescues four from illegal trade

ABILENE, Texas — The Abilene Zoo just welcomed four spider monkeys who were rescued from the illegal pet trade network.

The new monkeys will soon join the adults, but the General Curator at the zoo tells us more about what these monkeys went through to get here.

“They get pulled from mom and they don’t know anybody and they get transferred, whether it’s boxes or crates,” Robert Trejo said. “A lot of the time they get put in bags or backpacks and smuggled across the country that way, and it’s unfortunate because a lot of the time they don’t survive the journey.”

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Robert Trejo told us the newly rescued monkeys are all under a year old. All four were part of the illegal pet trade. Two females were found at a home in Houston and two males were found in a car at the border crossing into Brownsville.

They'll join the four adult spider spider monkeys that were also confiscated from the illegal pet trade network more than 20 years ago.

“You can overhear the conversations ‘Oh I would love to have one as a pet.’ Then it’s our job to say, ‘Oh well they don’t really make good pets,' and so, I think that is our challenge,” Trejo said. “Not enough people know that they do come across the border illegally and they go through a lot of trauma to get to that point.”

The physical journey takes a toll on these illegally traded animals and Trejo said many people don’t realize that they need such specialized care.

“Our message is clear, these are wild animals, they require special care, a lot of experience to take care of these animals, a lot of space and it’s constant care,” Trejo said. “A lot of times people might feed their pet monkey a waffle or a french fry, thinking ‘Okay this is what they eat.' But really, in reality, they require special diets.”

Trejo also warned that, although exotic animals like these monkeys look harmless, they can still be dangerous.

“Communicable diseases, they get that, and of course, animals can bite,” Trejo said. “I mean anything with a mouth can bite, they can be aggressive, they can be dangerous. When we talk about big cats people have tigers and large animals that are dangerous. They can pose grave threat and people can even be killed by some of these large animals. And so unless they know, and they have the experience and the resources and facilities to house these animals, they should not have them as pets.”

All spider monkey species are endangered but the Abilene Zoo and zoos across the nation are taking steps to put a stop to illegal pet trading.