At the end of January, Rise for Animals joined PETA in submitting two new petitions urging the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to finally grant long-overdue Endangered Species Act protections to long-tailed and southern pig-tailed macaques.

This fight isn’t new. In October 2024, USFWS rejected our first petitions to extend ESA protections to macaques – the “most heavily exploited primate species on the planet”. And it did so despite admitting that these animals are, in fact, threatened. Why? Almost certainly because the animal research industry demanded it. 

We previously exposed the corrupt and improper influence of the animal research industry over these decisions, and, now, PETA has uncovered even more damning evidence:

. . . [PETA] has []obtained documents revealing that current and former Fish & Wildlife Service employees, including former Principal Deputy Director Margaret Everson and members of an animal experimentation lobbying group, attempted to inappropriately influence the review process by submitting comments to the agency and seeking to coordinate a meeting with the agency in an apparent effort to persuade it to rely on outside information provided by the experimentation industry.

(And, this collusion between industry and its supposed regulators lurks everywhere in the animal research policy area. Case and point: PETA may as well have been characterizing the USFW’s denial of the original petitions when it described the February 4, 2025, decision by an international body not to restrict Cambodian exports of macaques: 

[CITES’ decision] proves that backroom deals and industry influence over U.S. and international officials hold sway over what should be an independent, science-driven process,’….)

Now, with these new petitions presenting additional and even more recent evidence of the catastrophic impact macaque trafficking is having on wild populations, the animal research industry is undoubtedly gearing up again. This time, though, the facts are even more damning.

The newly-filed petitions leave no room for doubt: both long-tailed and southern pig-tailed macaque populations are collapsing under the weight of human, including animal researcher, exploitation.

• The long-tailed macaque population has suffered a“catastrophic population decline” of about 40% over the last 40 years, with projections of another 50% decline over the next 40 years. And, new research published in 2024 reveals that long-tailed macaque populations may be up to 80% smaller than previously believed (and described in the 2023 Petition), evidencing a staggering  97.5% decline over just 14 years. A primary driver of this obscene collapse is the U.S. animal research industry, which buys more macaques for “biomedical and toxicology research” than anyone else. 
• The southern pig-tailed macaque population is also experiencing a “catastrophic population decline”, having decreased by at least 50% between 1989-2022 and with predictions that this rate will continue through at least 2055. A key cause is the U.S. animal research industry’s demand for these monkeys, particularly for use in HIV/AIDS and other infectious disease research”. 

It remains true – and may be truer than ever – that U.S. animal researchers are commodifying nonhuman primates into extinction, and they will succeed with long-tailed and pig-tailed macaque monkeys unless we force them to stop.

Ending nonhuman animal experimentation is the only real solution, but these petitions represent a crucial step in the right direction. They demand acknowledgement of the devastating impact the animal research industry has on wild animal populations, aim to curb the trade in the primates most commonly exploited by the industry, and seek protection for the remaining macaques who have not yet fallen prey to human exploitation.

We cannot allow the USFWS to once again bow to the animal research industry’s pressures and lies.

We must act now. Please tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop allying with the animal research industry and start protecting long-tailed and pig-tailed macaques by adding them to the Endangered Species list.

Act Now for Macaques

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