Threats to the primates from wildlife trade Humans place numerous pressures on primate species, yet the most critical one in the Greater Mekong region is the threat to their survival from consumption and trade. Documenting the primate trade in 2017, Nekaris and Bergin noted that “every family of endemic primate [in Asia] is represented in the trade in some form”, and that national and international trade was one of the most significant threats to primate species in Asia.12 The number of primates in the wildlife trade steadily increased from 1995 to 2008, with 3,500 additional live animals exported each year.13 However, this increase came mainly from the export of captive-bred rather than wild-caught primates. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) trade database from 1975 to 2019 puts the number of exported primates and specimens globally at over 360 million, of which a few million are live primates.14 The legal trade in primates was estimated to be worth US$138 million in 2015, representing a nearly 40 per cent increase from its 2012 value of $98 million.15 Live primates are traded to supply biomedical industries, pharmaceutical testing, the entertainment industry and pet markets. In addition, primate meat is consumed globally, while body parts are used for traditional medicine or sold as trinkets.13
The trade in primates worldwide, likely involving hundreds of thousands of live animals and millions of dead ones every year, has been identified as a major source of decline for nine of the world’s rarest primate taxa.13, 16
Southeast Asia is one of two global hubs for exporting primates. China, Cambodia, and Viet Nam have been among the largest legal exporters of live primates in the world, with live primate exports in 2017 from China valued at $48.1 million, followed by Viet Nam at $12 million and Cambodia at $11.3 million.15 That same year, 71 per cent of China’s live primate exports went to the United States, and 43 per cent of Viet Nam’s and 55 per cent of Cambodia’s exports went to Japan (these exports consist largely of captive-bred long-tailed macaques).15 Meanwhile, the number of undocumented animals being traded illegally is unknown. Weak law enforcement, inaccurate population assessments and a lack of transparency make it difficult to know the scale of illegal trade.15
Southern pig-tailed macaque Macaca nemestrina © Edward Parker / WWF
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