Card company to halt chimpanzee images
PHOTOS of grinning chimps have long adorned greetings cards but are now being scrapped over animal abuse fears.
The goofy and jovial cards often feature trained chimps seemingly smiling alongside a witty or lighthearted message. But while it appears that the animal is smiling, animal rights activists claim that the grin is more of a grimace caused by years of training and fear.
UK Greetings, one of Britain’s largest cards manufacturers and the retailer that owns brands including Carlton Cards, is now abandoning this genre.
It comes after the charity Peta approached the company asking them to follow the example of rival companies Hallmark and Moonpig to stop selling chimp cards.
“UK Greetings will not be using photographs depicting great apes or chimpanzees in cartoonish, unnatural ways for any new greeting cards,” a spokesman for the Yorkshire-based company told The Telegraph.
Peta claims the cards can hinder conservation efforts by undermining messaging on the plight of wild chimps.
“UK Greetings’ decision to stop making cards featuring images of captive great apes in unnatural situations acknowledges that such portrayals hold power, and for chimpanzees threatened with extinction, it can be a matter of life or death,” Yvonne Taylor, Peta’s vice president of corporate projects, said.
She added: “Peta is celebrating this victory for chimpanzees, and we hope other card manufacturers follow the company’s compassionate lead.”
UK Greetings is part of American Greetings, which banned chimp images two years ago, following in the footsteps of the companies Hallmark, Moonpig and Shutterstock.
Last week, the UK Government announced that it would now be illegal to own a pet primate, unless an individual can meet the same high standards as a professional zoo. Measures will come into force on April 6 and will effectively ban the practice in the UK.
It is estimated that up to 5,000 primates are currently kept in domestic settings in the UK. Experts say that their complex social and welfare needs can not be met in these environments.
Chimps can also be extremely violent and have killed keepers in the past.
Travis, a performing monkey that featured in TV shows and adverts in the US, attacked and killed its owner’s friend in 2009 and was shot dead.
Lord Douglas-miller, the minister for animal welfare, said: “Anyone who fails to provide the same welfare standards as found in a zoo faces a fine and having the primate removed from their care.”