Wolverhampton monkey injured in ‘inappropriate conditions’

Marcel was immediately given vitamin D3 upon arrival at Monkey World, as the primate care staff noticed he had rickets.

He was also given a correct diet for a marmoset to combat the effects a poor pet trade environment and diet has had on the South American primate.

Monkey World has rescued over 130 primates from the UK pet trade alone, many of which were kept as solitary pets in bird cages.

It campaigns for UK laws to be changed to protect marmosets and other monkeys.

A spokesperson for Monkey World said: “Despite most marmosets being bred in captivity in the UK, marmosets are not tame or domesticated; they are intelligent, social wild animals and require specialist care that cannot be fulfilled in a domestic situation.

“These social monkeys suffer in solitary confinement in the pet trade and the best rehabilitation Monkey World can offer them is a family of their own kind again.”

The ape rescue successfully campaigned and advised the government on legislating the primate pet trade in the UK, which was passed into law in March 2024 and will ban primates being kept as pets without a licence from April 2026.