Abandoned monkeys- what happens when social media 'pets' are no longer cute

A disturbing trend in the monkey social media boom has been the surge of popularity in abandonment videos. Videos of abandoned juveniles chasing after their owners (who are run away on foot, or ride away on motorcycles or in cars) or videos of the young monkeys cooing and calling for their owners for days have essentially become a sub-genre of monkey channel content.

The animals are usually poached when they are infants, some even with umbilical cords attached. The poaching is often violent, and frequently involves the death of the mother, which the infant witnesses. Depending on age, that trauma can cause lifelong consequences. (I'll talk about poaching specifically in a later post)

We know from Harlow's experiments in the 1950s/60s that infant monkeys undergo intense separation trauma and they form bonds of nurture and love to their mothers. We know that adult monkey mothers and caretakers will mourn the loss of their young for months, sometimes carrying the deceased body of their child for days or weeks in despair.

So we know poaching causes immeasurable trauma.

Then, the infants are 1) sold or kept as social media capital 2) sold in the exotic pet trade 3) sold to pharmaceutical research facilities 4) raised as forced labor (yes, really).

For social media, the monkeys are kept in cages until brought out for the camera where they are fed (poorly), bathed (traumatically), dressed (ridiculously) then stuffed back in the cage. Some are tortured. Because they are primates, they bond even to abusive captors.

They do not grow up in a troop and so do not understand monkey social hierarchy, communication, customs, etc. This is often fatal.

When dumped, the poor creature will often panic, cry, cling to their human, run after the car/motorcycle, or spend days searching and calling out for the only family they know.

So they endure 3 stages of trauma: poaching, exploitation and abuse, and abandonment. Many VOs profit from each stage (more on this later, too). .

This video highlights the how VOs (videographers) deliberately provoke trauma in order to capitalize on view count, which means more cash.

In case study 1, a juvenile female macaque is abandoned. Notice the camera continually zooming into her terrified face and the mic picking up her scared whimpering. The blue blanket, her security attachment, is used first to cause panic as it is taken away, then to get her to stay put (young monkeys will cling to their attachment items even in threat of harm).

The second features 3 very young pig tails. The cameras mostly focus on the 2 most traumatized. Please note at various points how many high end cameras are focused on these creatures as they struggle with their situation.

I have blurred out all identifying channel markers or pop-ups to other videos.

#babymonkey #cutebabymonkey #monkey #socialmedia #animalabuse #exoticpettrade #primatesarenotpets #monkeysarenotpets #endangeredspecies #monyet #monpai #babymonpai #babymonpai #sovanateam #sovana

[funnycats]

Since monkey dumplings aren't going to stop anytime soon, I might as well add something positive that has come from this. That first monkey you cover is called "Dawn." She had almost the hardest time getting abandoned that I've ever seen. I saw the original video of her getting dumped about nine months ago. But now she is independent and thriving well. Also, whenever a new monkey is dumped at that same Ankor site, (there have been about 15 or 20 new ones since) she is always the first to approach the scared monkeys and tries to calm them down and help them with their adjustment to the wild. She is so sweet to them and it's as if she remembers her struggle and doesn't want other new monkeys to go through the same experience.

[paulschnitzel]

When the “magic of love” disappears these animals face a doubtful future.

[Ann-jy]

YouTube spends a lot of time censoring silly things like word usage but I don’t understand why they can’t make it against the rules to allow these so called monkey rescue videos or even people filming their pet monkeys at home with people who think it’s okay to treat them like human children and injure them intentionally or unintentionally. I appreciate that you are showing this side of the monkey videos. It’s heartbreaking to me. I usually will not click on any monkey videos (except for ones from zoos or docs) because it stays with me. It’s distressing.

[Maxi.Borlund]

Es ist so schockierend, was diesen armen, wehrlosen Geschöpfen hier immer wieder angetan wird! Es bricht mir das Herz wenn ich mir vorstelle, was in ihnen wohl vorgehen mag, wie sie Angst haben weil sie ja nicht wissen, was hier mit ihnen geschieht. Und schon die Kleinsten werden von ihrer Mutter getrennt, eine Schande, sowas.
Diese sinnlose Quälerei muss aufhöen!

[Mytube]

The first monkey “Dawn” used to be “Liv liv” before she was dumped and is the sweetest little money ever. Everytime a new one gets dumped, or any baby, she makes sure to hug and comfort them as long as she can. She was dumped rather early too. She really is the sweetest monkey you will ever see.

[nickoftime]

This is one of the best, most informative videos I've seen! Great explanations and great information about how these monkeys are treated just to provide content for youtubers

[ashmccormick]

Thank you for the video and all the information in the comments. It truly helps bring awareness to the struggle, the trauma and abuse these innocent lil animals face.

[dianekennedy]

Absolute cruelty to dump babies this small they have only had human contact and feeding they havent got a clue how to behave what the hierarchy is or anything else its sickening

[amyobehave]

I used to comment all the time to try and talk sense into the people who for whatever reason don't see what is really going on, and to tell the sick, demented people who enjoy watching baby monkeys being tormented, abused and tortured all about their evil selves. I stopped because it didn't change those people's minds and it was giving the channels views.
It's absolutely heartbreaking to see what those monkeys are put through.

[ToniTDelia]

This makes me unbelievably mad 😡. The people that do this should be locked up!!!

[shara]

Omg 😢. I've been a huge supporters of monkey channels, particularly baby macaques, because they're adorable. I never thought about the abandonment part. Thank you for educating me on this. It's truly heartbreaking 💔 the trauma these sadist put these monkeys thru. I will no longer support these channels. And to think of it, I never saw a channel caring for an adult macaque 😮.

[xksimsl]

Все, памперсы и молоко закончились.Впереди побои, укусы, голод.Были домашним питомцем, стали брошенками.

[cavgrey]

Lady Freethinker has indicated recently that an increased in abandoned pet monkeys at Temple Angkor Wat is occurring since October 2022.

[fee]

They are so scared and they are in distress and alot of anxiety. Baby orangutans do this to. When they become orphans, they will reach out and hold on to a friend. The baby orangutans will not let go either. If they are by themselves they will hold thereselves. It's sad, it's called separation anxiety.

[racheldawson]

This is why I REFUSE to watch ANY social media videos of people showing off their baby monkeys because they are eventually going to abandon them. These poor little monkeys are terrified, so there's NO WAY that the people who abandon them can have a heart... they are EVIL and HEARTLESS!!!

[tatjanakuzmina]

Им нужно закрыть эти парки с обезьянами, а животных вывезти подальше от людей.Желательно на необитаемый остров.И будет покой.

[esterchaires]

An abandoned little one that get injured is just as difficult.💔😢 Poor sweet little Dawn 🥰 She is so delicate. Her back was ripped open. She suffered to sleep out on the tree. She would cry to get in a flithy cage to sleep to feel safe. She lost her appetite and hardly ate. It brought me tears seeing her suffer. 💔😢 She would cry to get her back cleaned and sprayed w/anticiptic. 💔😢 She did not understand.I prayed and prayed for her and I watched her slowly recover. She still loves to be cuddled. Bless your little heart sweet little Dawn ❤️✝️🙏.

[TaliaBarela]

Thank you so much for what you are doing!

[QueenSpice]

I’m glad I came across your videos. You know how annoying it gets trying to educate people on this topic and just constantly repeating and arguing to get the point across that these ppl are abusers. Now I just direct them your channel. It’s the best. Especially your videos of “why babies cling” parts and the “mean mother myth”. Also, the “uncanny valley”. Thank you for what you do! Keep them coming 😊

[netlfixplayboy]

Bardzo dużo powstaje kanałów gdzie głównymi bohaterami są małpie noworotki jest to wprost ochydne, Ludzie którzy to robią powinni być karani a kanały zamykane