Monkey pet ban ‘could leave 4,500 apes out in the cold’

AS MANY as 4,500 primates may have nowhere to go when the Government bans people from keeping them as pets, a BBC science presenter has warned.

Dr Ben Garrod, a primatologist who is presenting two new science-based shows for the broadcaster, said that while he welcomed the expected policy announcement, which is currently in the consultation stage, there remained concerns about where to accommodate the animals if they were confiscated.

He said: “We think there are 4,500 privately owned primates in the UK. Even if we banned it tomorrow, what do you do with these 4,500 animals that can live decades? We don’t have the facilities to confiscate them off people. We absolutely need to make it illegal, as they are dangerous animals with high welfare standards and also carry diseases that can pass to humans.”

The scientist, who is also a professor at the University of East Anglia, will present a new primate show on BBC Two next month called Baby Chimp Rescue.

As part of the show, Dr Garrod spent 18 months in Liberia learning how conservation workers are trying to stop chimpanzees from becoming extinct.

He told The Sunday Telegraph: “There are a million species facing extinction, but we are first looking at our closest relative, chimpanzees.

“If we are having these issues with our nearest living relative, that just shows the issues we are facing right now with so many other species on this planet.

“We refer to them as our ‘kids’, as they are so similar in so many ways, but they are so traumatised in so many ways. They live up to 70 years and they are being exploited and killed.”

The primatologist, who has worked with Dr Jane Goodall, the renowned chimpanzee scientist, said our attitude towards non-human primates needs to change in order to save them from extinction and exploitation.

He explained: “It was deemed in the past that chimpanzees were cute and funny, that they would complement a TV programme. On His Dark Materials right now on the BBC, Mrs Coulter’s daemon is all CGI, which is great that we can do that now. We are starting to see a change – Pirates of the Caribbean had real primates, for example. We don’t have that now so much.”

Dr Garrod is also presenting a new show, airing tonight on BBC Four at 7.30pm, called Secrets of Skin, in which he will be exploring new scientific discoveries.