The smell hits me right away. It’s an ammonia-rich stench that is reminiscent of a seabird colony, but more overpowering and, to me, unpleasant.
Perhaps it’s partly because I’m in an enclosed space, but I think marmosets are some of the stinkiest animals I’ve ever encountered. I’m not alone in believing this.
The smell gets everywhere, says Nicola Pollard, head keeper at the Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary. Arguably what’s even worse, though, is their propensity to bite. There are some photos of Pollard with vicious cuts on her nose and blood running down her face – wounds inflicted by a marmoset.
“I got bitten on my finger once, when I placed a food dish in a marmoset’s enclosure,” she says. “I spent five days in hospital and had two operations to peel back the skin and scrub the bone. This was from a bite from a marmoset that you could buy for a four-year-old child.”
Monkeys as pets
There is evidence for monkeys being kept as pets in Europe as early as the 11th century. Catherine of Aragon was painted with what is believed to be a Panamanian white-throated capuchin in the 1520s, and Henry VIII was gifted a marmoset in 1534.
Capuchins were the monkey of choice of 18th-century Italian organ grinders and – much more recently – a capuchin called Marcel appeared in the first series of the hit sitcom Friends. Whether primates are any more popular today as pets than they were in the 16th century, it’s hard to know.
We don’t even know how many are out there. Animal welfare groups say the figure for England alone could be anywhere between 3,000-9,000, while the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) says “the number of primates kept privately is highly uncertain” but estimates somewhere between 1,000-5,000.
What we do know is that there is a steady stream of people who have bought various species, with marmosets, capuchins and squirrel monkeys the most popular.
The Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary even houses a 51-year-old chimpanzee called Nakima, who was looked after in a private setting for 29 years. What tends to happen is that unsuspecting owners find that their cute, harmless juvenile pet monkey grows up and starts damaging furniture and peeing in the house (and on themselves), and generally becomes very difficult to manage.
That’s where sanctuaries such as Pollard’s, Wild Futures in Cornwall and Monkey Haven on the Isle of Wight come in.
Wild Futures director Sarah Hanson says that baby monkeys are typically taken from their mothers before any natural weaning processes have taken place, and are initially relatively easy to care for, as they are so dependent on humans.
But things change as they get older. “Natural behaviours start to come out,” she says. “They become more inquisitive.” They’re probably living in a small cage, and then are allowed out in the living room. “They’re curious animals, and things start to get broken,” Hanson continues.
Capuchins also have a habit of urinating and then rubbing it into their fur. If the impact on the pet owners is one thing, there’s also the impact on the monkeys themselves, with diet one key issue.
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Different species of monkey of course feed on different food items, but many pet owners give them too much by way of refined carbohydrates. They try to do the right thing, but make basic mistakes, Hanson says.
“We did a marmoset rescue recently, and the owner said they just fed it vegetables, lettuce and a bit of fruit,” she says. “But then they added that if they were having dinner, they might give the marmoset a couple of Pringles, or a bit of jacket potato, or sometimes a bit of pizza.”
Sweets such as marshmallows and Jelly Babies are frequently on the menu. Monkeys that are rehomed at Wild Futures sometimes already either have, or develop, diabetes as a result, which means they require insulin jabs.
Psychological impacts are also common, manifesting in repeated, stereotypical behaviour. Pollard recalls one spider monkey called Jon-Jon, kept in a parrot cage for seven years by a pet-shop owner. Trading Standards raided the premises because the owner should have had a licence under the Dangerous Wild Animals legislation.
“He’s been with us for more than 20 years, and when he arrived, he just used to sit on the floor and rock and shout,” Pollard says.
All his muscles had degenerated, and his prehensile tail, which ought to serve as a fifth limb, dragged along the floor from lack of use. Happily, the monkey has mostly recovered during the time he’s been at the sanctuary.
“He still has the odd mad moment now and again when he shouts for no apparent reason,” Pollard says.
New primate regulations
In general, the sanctuaries and NGOs contacted for this article are united in their view that no primates make appropriate pets, and the keeping of them by ordinary homeowners should be banned. In response to their concerns, in April, the government introduced regulations that anyone who owns a pet primate in England must have a licence.
“A number of primate-keeping groups were involved in the development of the regulations and accompanying guidance,” said a spokesperson. “All responsible private primate keepers should be aware of the requirements.”
The scheme is the responsibility of local authorities, who must not only make sure that enclosures are of a certain size, but also carry out ongoing monitoring of licence-holders.
The Love Marmoset UK facebook group reveals some level of knowledge about the new licensing regime, but also some ignorance.
BBC Wildlife reached out to the 6,900 members to get their views on the new scheme, and on the broader criticisms of keeping of monkeys as pets, and received a response from one owner, Kay (name changed to protect identity), who owns four marmosets and has obtained a licence.
She describes the marmosets as “emotional-support animals” due to the severe PTSD she experiences as a result of domestic abuse. The monkeys have access to both a large enclosure kitted out with ropes and toys, and also the inside of her house.
“They cost me thousands, but you can’t put a price on them living happily and the love and joy they bring me,” Kay says. “They treat me like part of their family – they groom me, they pick up on my emotions. I can’t tell you how bright they are.”
Her enclosures were already sufficiently large to meet the new licensing requirements, which she describes as a brilliant idea. The local authority inspection, she says, was very thorough and took nearly three hours.
“Many monkeys are kept in terrible conditions,” she adds. “They are alone, with their needs not being met, self-mutilating due to stress, or used as baby-making machines.”
There are plenty of breeders on Love Marmoset UK advertising young animals for sale. Prices are not revealed, but it appears they run to £1,000 or more for a single individual, though one sanctuary says they saw a two-year-old Geoffroy’s tufted-ear marmoset on sale for £5,000.
The sanctuaries, and groups such as Born Free, are ambivalent about the new licence regulations. While they admit they are a step in the right direction, it’s clearly not a complete ban. They fear that most people who own a primate will either not know about them, or simply ignore them, and that councils will be powerless to act.
Indeed, an investigation by Born Free in January revealed that just three licence applications had been made. The upshot is that there could be thousands of illegally owned primates in England. Defra, however, says it is too early to speculate about how many keepers have applied for licences.
Nicola Pollard has a story that should give anyone pause for thought if they are considering a primate as a pet. A man in Belgium had kept two black mangabeys – a species from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa – for 15 years, and entered their enclosure every day without any problems.
These are relatively large monkeys, much larger than marmosets, but still weigh at most only 10kg.
“He broke his leg, and went in one day on crutches,” Pollard continues. “The pair ganged up on him because they saw he was weakened, and he had to go to hospital.”
Kay with her marmosets has a very different story to tell. Both are relevant to the question of how – and whether we should – keep primates as pets.
Top image: a marmoset monkey. Credit: Hananeko_Studio/shutterstock
