Animal Protection groups call on Spanish airline – WAMOS AIR – to stop flying monkeys for research

Animal Protection groups are appealing to the Spanish airline, Wamos Air, to end its involvement in the cruel global trade in monkeys for research. The groups, Action for Primates (UK), One Voice (France) and Stop Camarles (Spain), were recently alerted to several shipments involving hundreds of monkeys who have been transported by Wamos Air from Cambodia and Mauritius to the USA.

The ordeal suffered by these monkeys includes about 24 hours of flying time, with many hours in transit to and from the airports and a layover at Madrid airport.

Wamos Air, formerly Pullmantur Air, primarily operates passenger charter flights to holiday destinations, including in the Caribbean. It is a subsidiary of the Miami-based Royal Caribbean Group (formerly Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd), the world’s second-largest cruise line entity, which operates Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises.

Airlines play a key role in the international monkey trade by transporting monkeys from countries such as Mauritius and Cambodia, where they are held in large-scale breeding farms.

The monkeys are torn from their family groups, packed into small wooden crates and travel as cargo, on extremely long journeys to research laboratories. They may be forced to endure inadequate ventilation, noise, temperature fluctuations and delays.

Thanks to widespread global public concern, many of the world’s leading airlines — including American Airlines, British Airways, United Airlines, South African Airways, China Airlines, Delta Airlines, Eva Air and Air Canada — ended their involvement in this cruel transport of monkeys. Many other passenger airlines and cargo companies have also declared their intent to not become involved in this trade.

Action for Primates, One Voice and Stop Camarles have launched a worldwide action alert. The groups state: “Holidaymakers will be shocked to learn that the airline flying them to their holiday of a lifetime in the Caribbean, also flies hundreds of monkeys to their deaths in US laboratories. We appeal to Wamos Air and the Royal Caribbean Group to discontinue their association with the cruel global trade in monkeys by ending their involvement of Wamos Air through its direct transportation of monkeys or by the leasing of its aircraft to other companies.’’

For further information:
Contact Action for Primates; E-mail: info@actionforprimates.org – www.actionforprimates.org
One Voice: https://one-voice.fr