{"id":234301,"date":"2026-01-15T08:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T08:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/234301\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T08:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T08:38:11","slug":"east-yorkshire-residents-told-to-license-monkeys-in-private-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/234301\/","title":{"rendered":"East Yorkshire residents told to license monkeys in private ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Richard MaddenEast Yorkshire and Lincolnshire<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768389368_961_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/fa952080-f145-11f0-93d6-653cec36253c.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Getty Images A close up image of a chimpanzee sitting amongst green leaves and bushes.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>East Riding of Yorkshire Council has urged primate owners to apply for a licence before a rule change in April<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">A council has urged anyone keeping monkeys and primates as pets to get a licence before new rules are introduced across England.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The licensing system has been introduced to ensure the animals are properly cared for and that owners meet legal requirements, East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The authority said it was only aware of two properties in the area that required the paperwork but asked for other owners to come forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Government legislation states it will be illegal to keep monkeys, lemurs, and other primates in England without a licence from 6 April.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Anyone who owns a primate <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-68419319\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">without the appropriate licence<\/a> could face six months in jail, an unlimited fine, or both. The rules only affect private owners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Licensing fees have not been decided but ERYC said they would likely range between \u00a3280 and \u00a3630.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Licences would last up to three years, the authority added.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Vital for animal welfare&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The authority said an inspection would be conducted by a licensing officer and a suitable, qualified person such as a vet or experienced zoo keeper as part of the application process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Owners of chimpanzees, baboons, gorillas and certain species will also need to apply for a dangerous wild animal licence costing \u00a3430.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Councillor Lyn Healing, cabinet member for communities and public protection said: &#8220;These regulations are vital for animal welfare, and we urge any residents who own primates to get in touch with the licensing team as soon as possible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;Together we can safeguard animal wellbeing across our region.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richard MaddenEast Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Getty Images East Riding of Yorkshire Council has urged primate owners to apply&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[111,139,69,147,406],"class_list":{"0":"post-234301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}