State officials say a Kentucky woman’s pet monkey was killed after it bit a child.
Conservation officials searched the 58-year-old owner’s Pendleton County home on May 19 and seized her pet marmoset. After receiving instructions about the attack A spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said in an email.
Marmosets are killed to detect rabies. This is often fatal in humans, the spokesman said. It can be infected by being bitten. There is no information on the severity and circumstances of the bites.
Autopsy results showed that the marmosets were not rabid.
“Wildlife officials and state health officials are communicating about this and have agreed that the law requires that animals be slaughtered because of circumstances and medical necessity. because of the serious public health risks that rabies poses to people,” the spokesman said.
Experts say that marmosets originated in Brazil. subsistence on insect diets and chewing gum or tree sap They are among the smallest primates in the world. They are usually less than 8 inches tall and weigh less than a pound.
In addition to the problem of onset and the possibility of rabies. Owning a primate in Kentucky is generally illegal.
“Primates are designated as inherently endangered by state administrative regulations and it is illegal to import, transport or possess them in Kentucky without a permit,” the spokesman said.
Marmoset owners have been charged with breeding and possessing wildlife without permission, documents show.
“This is the second time (a woman) has possessed a primate,” the quote reads. “Last time she took the animal out before authorities seized it, however, photo evidence was found on her phone after receiving a subpoena.”
despite the small shape But marmosets are very intelligent animals. Although they are different from other mammals. Mostly in terms of size.
“Marmosets are one of the few primates that routinely bond with and care for their offspring like humans do,” the researchers wrote in a 2017 study. exhibited social cognitive abilities such as imitation, which is rare outside of the APE group.”
This intelligence also makes them prone to boredom, stress and loneliness when not in their natural environment. experts say As a result they are not good pets.
Pendleton County is about 55 miles north of central Lexington.
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