NEED TO KNOW
\nU.S. officials investigating rise in spider monkeys trafficked and sold as pets on social mediaCBS and Inside Edition exposed smuggling routes from Mexico and illegal sales in Texas parking lotsPoachers kill mothers to steal infants, worsening species decline as zoos struggle to care for rescued babies<\/p>\n
An unsettling trend is rising in spider monkeys being poached and sold on social media, and officials from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) are on the case to stop this practice from escalating further.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
In a joint investigation by CBS<\/a> and Inside Edition<\/a>, officials were able to shed light on the growing trend that\u2019s putting a strain on local facilities and leading to the ill treatment of these already-endangered animals.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n According to the report, the spider monkeys are being brought across the Mexico-Texas border and smuggled into the country to be sold as domesticated pets. For about two years, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has confiscated over 100 spider monkeys \u2013 that are found in hostile conditions \u2013 while being illegally transported across the border.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Smuggled spider monkeys.<\/p>\n U.S. Customs and Border Protection<\/p>\n \u201cThey haven\u2019t been given water, they haven\u2019t been given food. They had no medical attention,\u201d explained Colonel Jim Stinebaugh, director of law enforcement at Texas Parks and Wildlife, to the outlet. \u201cTo see them treated like that is just terrible.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n These illegal sales are allegedly happening in \u201cbig box store parking lots\u201d in Texas \u2014 where one reporter, Inside Edition anchor Eva Pilgrim, nearly caught an active sale as the exchange \u2014 or online, with the spider monkey being shipped to its recipient.\n<\/p>\n