1000’s of monkeys used for testing transported by way of Iceland

Bluebird Nordic, an airline from Iceland, has been concerned within the controversial transport of 1000’s of monkeys. The long-tailed macaques are despatched from Asia to laboratories in Europe, the UK and USA so researchers can conduct exams on them.

Lisa Jones-Engel, a scientific advisor at Individuals for the Moral Therapy of Animals (PETA), advised the Icelandic Nationwide Broadcasting Service RÚV that she was stunned at an Icelandic airline’s involvement in transporting monkeys from Asia. Many airways, together with Air France, have stopped transporting these monkeys as a result of moral considerations. 

Bluebird Nordic has performed not less than sixteen journeys to Mauritius, Vietnam, and Cambodia to move these animals to Western nations. Jones-Engel famous that many of those monkeys have been captured within the wild.

In keeping with animal welfare group Abolición Vivisección, round 5,000 monkeys have been transported in simply seven of those flights. The situations of transport, involving prolonged flights and several other stopovers, have additionally been a supply of fear relating to the animals’ welfare.

One journey began on October 16 in Mauritius, transiting by way of Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Iceland, and eventually the USA. The journey took 43 hours from take-off to the vacation spot. One other voyage from Vietnam to the USA included layovers in India, Georgia, and Iceland, lasting over 32 hours.

Stories from Abolición Vivisección point out that the animals may not have acquired satisfactory care en route. They weren’t given ample meals and water.

Icelandic laws include strict tips for animal transport, aiming to forestall concern, damage, or struggling. These laws have been violated in these monkey transport instances by Bluebird Nordic.

Monkeys by way of Belgium

Following RÚV’s investigation, Bluebird Nordic reportedly ended its monkey transportation actions. Subsequently, SkyTaxi, a Polish airline, appears to have taken over, transporting long-tailed macaques for world laboratory use.

Since Air France terminated monkey transport, Brussels Airport has emerged as a major entry level for these long-tailed macaques into the EU and the UK and as a transit hub for some flights to the USA.

Since mid-2023, 1000’s of monkeys have arrived at Brussels Airport in small wood crates, Abolición Vivisección stated.

Abolición Vivisección, Monkey Bloodbath Mauritius, Cheshire Animal Rights Campaigns, and the Animal Welfare Occasion are calling on SkyTaxi and Brussels Airport to finish their involvement within the laboratory monkey commerce.

Subsequent pandemic

Jones-Engel, who beforehand performed laboratory experiments on monkeys, turned disgusted as a result of their mistreatment and the scientific neighborhood’s indifference. Many animals arrived at their locations in poor health, carrying illnesses like tuberculosis, malaria, salmonella, and viruses much like Ebola.

“You title it. These animals had it,” Jones-Engel remarked to RÚV. There are considerations that the subsequent pandemic may emerge from these globally transported animals.

“This isn’t hypothetical,” Jones-Engel emphasised. “We think about them bioterrorism weapons. These pathogens are shed within the urine and within the feces and within the saliva and thru respiratory droplets.”

Final yr, a number of European nations reported tuberculosis outbreaks linked to a single transport of long-tailed macaques from Vietnam to Hartelust, a Dutch laboratory animal provider.

Lengthy-tailed macaques are listed as endangered on the Worldwide Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Purple Checklist of Threatened Species.