According to a report by The Guardian in February 2023,There have been dozens of cases of monkey trafficking in Thailand.The first people to realize that the monkeys were missing were the monks at the Loei temple. During daily feeding, they found that there seemed to be fewer and fewer monkeys. According to local media statistics,At least hundreds of monkeys are missing.Some people speculate that they may have died of a mysterious disease; others believe that they moved to other places due to lack of food here.

But more people believe that they may have been used as experimental monkeys and trafficked to other countries.

really,The price of experimental monkeys this year has been ridiculously high. According to reports, the price of experimental monkeys in China is 170,000 per animal, and the highest price in the United States is 400,000 per animal. Monkeys are hard to find in many places.

Is the disappearance of monkeys in Thailand really related to experimental monkeys?

There were so many monkeys that they fought in groups for food.

Thailand can be said to be a paradise for monkeys, where they have the best living conditions. Especially Lopburi is not only an ancient city, but also a "monkey city". Here you can feel the unique monkey city landscape.

People here regard monkeys as valuable treasures. Every year in November, a grand Monkey Festival is held. Residents provide a "buffet" for the monkeys, so that all monkeys can have a full meal. This custom started in 1989 and continues to this day.

The biggest benefit of the Monkey Festival is that it brings an endless stream of tourists to the city and considerable tourism revenue to the local area.

Thanks to the monkeys' contribution to the city, the local residents are very friendly to these animals, giving them food and drink, and not minding them being around them at all. Tourists love this animal so much that they even regard feeding the monkeys as the most important part of their trip.

Over time, under the "goodwill" of humans, the monkey groups have become larger and larger, and they have become more and more courageous.

However, everything was still under control until the outbreak of the epidemic hit tourism. Monkeys that had lost sight of being fed by tourists began to behave in bizarre ways for the sake of the few food resources they had.

What shocked the world was that on March 12, 2020, a turf war between monkeys broke out near Lopburi Temple in Thailand.

Dozens of monkeys were divided into two groups, one from the street and one from the temple. Both parties gathered on the busy road, and the cause of the conflict was a cup of yogurt.

The fight between the two sides lasted for several minutes, and traffic here was paralyzed for ten minutes.

This is a very famous big scene, but small scenes of human-monkey conflicts are staged almost every day.

Without food, the monkeys began to dig through trash cans, grab food from residents, and even occupied shops to steal food.

To drive them away, local residents often feed them cheap junk food, a type of sugary snacks and drinks.

However, this behavior not only does not alleviate the problem, but also contributes to the monkey's growth.

After consuming too much sugar, the monkeys became very active and eager to reproduce, and their number increased. Gradually, the monkeys became a dark force that was difficult to eradicate in this country.

During the lockdown, the monkeys took over abandoned buildings, gathered around temples and even took over a cinema, forcing its owner to give up space to them.

They also began venturing out into public places, such as shops, restaurants, and schools. They even fight against tourists, and every day the hospital encounters people bitten by monkeys.

In order to control these monkeys, managers have taken many measures, such as sterilization, but the results are not ideal.

In other words, the locals can only continue to endure the monkeys' ravages.

Where are the missing Thai monkeys?

According to the founder of the Thai Wildlife Friends Foundation, there is a real possibility that these monkeys were captured as experimental monkeys and smuggled across the border to other countries.

There are many types of monkeys in Thailand, mainly crab-eating macaques, which we often call crab-eating macaques and long-tailed macaques.

The genes of cynomolgus monkeys are very similar to human genes, and their body structures are also very similar, especially the structure and functional principles of the brain.

Scientists have discovered thatCynomolgus monkeys have high potential for testing the safety of human drugs and studying neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

As a result, cynomolgus monkeys have become the most commonly used primate species in animal experiments, along with rhesus monkeys. Rhesus monkeys were also victims in this trafficking incident.

Anek Nakthorn, deputy police chief of Thailand’s local Environmental Crime Department, also agrees with this statement. They have arrested multiple suspects for monkey trafficking:

2, when they were arrested, they had already caught 9 with drugs and food;

3 people secretly entered the temple at night and captured monkeys. They had already captured 5 monkeys and 2 of them died;

5, 9 were caught in Nakhon Sawan and 1 died.

There are many cases like this. These people usually only catch 10 (or less than 10) animals at a time. After catching them, they put them in cages or bags. They will not transfer and ship them until the number reaches 50-100. The goods will first go to Cambodia and then to the United States.

In November 2023, eight suspects were arrested in the United States, one of whom was a Cambodian wildlife manager who was responsible for manufacturing fake export licenses.

Experimental monkey with ridiculous prices

In the final analysis, it is interests that are at work.

According to reports, on the black market, monkeys in Thailand used to cost only twenty or thirty dollars each, but now the price has increased 5-10 times.

Human demand for experimental monkeys is very high, especially after the epidemic. On the one hand, more experimental monkeys are needed to develop vaccines. On the other hand, China stopped the export of monkeys and other wild animals during the epidemic.

China is the largest supplier of laboratory monkeys, accounting for almost 60% of the global laboratory monkey market. Once China stops exporting and supply and demand break, prices will fluctuate significantly.

To what extent? Take a look at our official domestic purchase prices.

According to procurement information released in April 2023,The China Institute of Food and Drug Control purchased a total of 120 cynomolgus monkeys, and the purchase price was 20.4 million yuan. The price of an experimental monkey has reached 170,000 yuan.

You must know that 10 years ago, the price of an experimental monkey was only about 10,000, but now it has reached a maximum price of 230,000.

Domestic prices have already skyrocketed, and overseas prices are even more severe.

Take the United States for example. According to reports, before the epidemic, an experimental monkey only cost 7,500-8,500 US dollars. After the epidemic, the price soared to 55,000 US dollars.

China no longer exports experimental monkeys. In fact, a large part of the reason is that we don’t have enough of them ourselves. With the current production, it is only 30,000 pieces a year, but the domestic demand is 40,000 pieces.

As a result, the United States turned to Cambodia to buy.

According to statistics, Cambodia’s exports in 2018 were only 10,000, but in 2019 and 2020, the annual export volume directly reached 30,000.

Scientists suspect that poaching, trafficking or smuggling is involved, because judging from the currently registered female monkeys, it is impossible to have so many offspring in a short period of time.

The most important thing is that these wild monkeys brought from abnormal sources are not qualified experimental monkeys. The requirements for experimental monkeys are very high. They must be at least three years old, in good health, and have strong reproductive capabilities.

Once a wild monkey enters an experimental project with substandard quality, it will lead to "one rat droppings spoiling the whole pot of porridge." Not only will the experiment fail, but even other good experimental monkeys may have to be euthanized.

at last

It is really unexpected that experimental monkeys have become a resource that all countries compete for.

People still have the impression that monkeys in scenic spots snatch bags and food and attack humans. However, in July 2023, crab-eating monkeys were listed as endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Experimental monkeys are a controversial project, and many animals are "disposable experimental items."

I know it is cruel, but this project cannot be stopped, because it is related to the development of human medicine, and its importance is irreplaceable. It is precisely for this reason that its price has skyrocketed.

Judging from the current demand, it is estimated that the United States will need 70,000 monkeys per year and China will need 40,000 monkeys, not counting those from other countries. The price of experimental monkeys will not fall back in the short term.