From: GBurch1@aol.com
Date: Sat Jul 10 1999 - 20:57:33 MDT
In a message dated 99-07-10 22:17:02 EDT,TriStateF@aol.com wrote:
> I'm not sure I got the entire drift about having primates for pets but I
> have
> been interested in possibly getting one for a pet. My friend had a spider
> monkey but she said it was a fiasco. I will be living in a small town so
> don't know if it will even be possible to have one there. What's involved
> in
> terms of law and care? :)
It is possible to legally own primates and other exotic animals in many
places. But my first advice is that you probably not do it. The
circumstances in which humans can keep primates as "pets" are rare and
difficult to maintain. (In fact, I believe that it is impossible to
ethically maintain primates as "pets" -- only as house mates :-) It only
works for us for a number of reasons. First, we have lemurs, which are
really prosimians, or "proto-primates". More "advanced" primates are much
harder to keep because they are too strong to be dealt with in a home
environment safely or practically (even a spider monkey can wreak utter havoc
in a home and cause serious injury, even in play). We've researched more
"advanced" primates and wouldn't consider them until we make a LOT more
money. Second, my wife is an artist who works at home and can be with the
lemurs almost all of time. Primates and prosimians are extremely social
animals and can't be left alone for any length of time without doing them
psychological injury. Third, Anthea has a truly extraordinary gift for
relating to and handling animals of all kinds (remind me to tell you about
the wild macaws we encountered in Nicaragua . . .) and is super-humanly
patient with them. Fourth, you have to be willing to make a very long-term
commitment to an animal with amazing intelligence, agility and strength that
will remain essentially at the stage of "terrible twos" for 20-40 years.
Fifth, we've built special accommodations for the lemurs in our house so that
they can be themselves and we can be ourselves without driving each other
crazy. Sixth, you have to have access to medical services which are hard to
find. Most vets aren't competent and/or willing to treat primates and most
human doctors won't. Finally, you have to find competent care for the
animals when you want to take a vacation. If all that doesn't put you off,
by all means . . . :-)
If you're interested, check out my lemur page:
http://users.aol.com/gburch2/darwin.html
which is out of date and has a slightly corrupted file format (updating and
fixing it is on my to-do list).
Greg Burch <GBurch1@aol.com>----<gburch@lockeliddell.com>
Attorney ::: Vice President, Extropy Institute ::: Wilderness Guide
http://users.aol.com/gburch1 -or- http://members.aol.com/gburch1
"Civilization is protest against nature;
progress requires us to take control of evolution."
-- Thomas Huxley
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