Surviving Pet Trade: Studies from Rescue Centers on Traumas & Primate Social Behaviors

We often see news reports about live animals being confiscated by the authorities. We automatically assume they have been "rescued"; however, fortunately or unfortunately, the animals survive after confiscation. They have to live on to deal with the aftermath of their psychological trauma, as a result of being separated from their parents and having witnessed them being killed.

In this podcast episode, Amapola Rey (Poppy) and Cris Armengol were interested in studying macaques and gibbons, respectively, to understand how they cope with trauma within a social group after being rescued from the illegal pet trade. With the knowledge they gathered, they hope to inform better rehabilitation strategies at rescue centres, leading to improved welfare outcomes and increased success in releasing rescued primates back into the wild.

Poppy's research paper: "Impacts of illegal trade on socio-emotional and behavioural skills in macaques" https://f1000research.com/articles/13-188

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