Did you know that primates are bred for use in Australian research? Help to honour them with names
‘Honour Me With A Name’ is a gesture of respect to the hundreds of primates who live and die in Australian labs each year. Honour them with a name!Â
Hundreds of primates live for decades inside of cages in Australian research institutions. They were born there and will die there, sometimes from old age, but often through the cruel experiments that they endure over the course of their lifetimes. They didn’t choose that life for themselves and they didn’t willingly sacrifice their lives for research.
Their lives meant something. They should be remembered. Â
All will be born and die in a cage
Despite efforts to make their lives in cages more comfortable – all of these primates will live out their lives in unnatural conditions, often separated from their familial group or mother from a young age. The majority will endure painful procedures, often repeatedly, over many years. Then they are killed. No primates (as far as we are aware) are relocated to an animal sanctuary following being used in cruel experiments. All will be born and die in a cage.Â
There are many challenges to knowing exactly how many small primates are being used currently in Australian research. This is due to a lack of transparency. Given these limitations, this is what we currently know:Â
- Macaques are kept in lab cages millions of times smaller than their natural home range.  Source: Lahvis GP. Unbridle biomedical research from the laboratory cage. Elife. 2017;6:e27438. Published 2017 Jun 29. doi:10.7554/eLife.27438
- There’s three primate breeding facilities in Australia: Macaques, marmosets and baboons are bred there.
- Primates are used in neurology, HIV, diabetes and vision research. Much of this is NHMRC funded. Tell the NHMRC you DO NOT WANT to fund primate research. Â
- Hundreds of primates have come from these facilities and been used in Australian research over decades.Â
- 109,581 people signed a petition in 2022 calling for a ban on primate experimentation. This was tabled in the Australian Senate.Â
Choose Your Primate Story
Many of these primates: pig-tailed macaques, baboons, night monkeys and marmosets are given names by the animal technicians and researchers who monitor them. Still – many others remained nameless throughout their lives. Known only by an ID number instead of a name.
Your contribution to naming them is deeply meaningful. It means that despite them living and dying without a name, you give them one. You honour and remember them. You give them the dignity and respect they lacked during their life of incarceration.
I was an elderly female marmoset and was used in an experiment that compared my ageing body to those of younger primates. Why, after 14 years in a lab could I not be rehomed to a sanctuary?
I was an Aotus monkey, also known as a night monkey. I was used in an infectious disease institute in Queensland to study malaria. I was treated with a compound by inserting it through a plastic tube into my throat. This happened to all of us and is probably still happening to my friends.
My experiment meant I had to have my head shaved and I was held in a stereotaxic frame and my brain opened up. I had tracers injected into my brain. The bone to my skull was sealed back. I was then allowed to recover from the ordeal. Thankfully, seven days later I was killed.
I don’t know if I was ever given name by researchers. I wasn’t given an identification in the research publication. All I know is that I had a stroke induced and then following the loss of my eye muscles and muscular reflexes, I was decapitated.
Once you have chosen your primate story, you will choose a package amount:
Bronze
($250)
You will receive a personalised printed certificate, a ‘Maurice’ toy gibbon, and an optional social media shout out.
Silver
($500)
You will receive a personalised printed certificate, a ‘Maurice’ toy gibbon, and an optional social media shout out, a personalised poster with animal story, and a personal thank you on the website.
Gold
($750)
You will receive a personalised printed certificate, a ‘Maurice’ toy gibbon, and an optional social media shout out, a personalised poster with animal story, a personal thank you on the website, a AFSA ‘marmoset’ t-shirt, and a behind-the-scenes tour of Banana Cabana primate sanctuary in Sydney (tour only, travel not included).
Diamond
(min. $1500)
You will receive a personalised printed certificate, a ‘Maurice’ toy gibbon, and an optional social media shout out, a personalised poster with animal story, a presentation to your company team, your logo featured on the website (subject to approval), and a behind-the-scenes tour of Banana Cabana primate sanctuary in Sydney (tour only, travel not included).
Primate Case Studies
Diamond Donors
Silver and Gold Donors
Camille Elmir
Catherine Healy-Varley
Edwina Wrobel
Ellie Robertson
Fiona Connolly
Gayle Williams
Georgia Blomberg
Harbinda Roberts
Joan’s Ark
Joeanne Katsikaros
Lucinda, Harry, and Chloe
Melinda Kinnane
Morna McIlraith
Naomi Mayeux
Ronald ‘Ronnie’ Stenner
Susan Sorenson
Tara Reid