Florida laws help chimps

COURTESY PHOTO Denyse The idea of sitting home with an ape in your living room watching a ball game and letting him live as a member of the family is not business as usual in Florida.

Tougher state laws are in place to help prevent tragedies such as the attack last week in Connecticut involving a 200- pound chimp and a woman.

Sen. Dave Aronberg (D-Greenacres) said laws were toughened last year for owning primates. Aside from the permits, a bond and insurance must be purchased, he said.

"You can't be able to have it as a whim," he said.

And in reaction to the recent attack in Connecticut, Sen. Aronberg said Florida laws are adequate and tough.

"I think our laws work," he said.

And though he said he is always up for reviewing a current law, making future changes must be thought out.

"I am always leery of rushing to change laws based on an incident in another state," Sen. Aronberg said.

Florida laws for owning a primate are tough, said Gary Morse, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife. Someone wishing to own a primate such as a capuchin or spider monkey must have about a year of documented primate experience, along with the licensing fee, in order to get a permit.

"Florida has some of the toughest regulations," Mr. Morse said.

Still, there are loopholes. Though it's against state law to own a class I primate — such as a chimp — as a private pet, some still do.

Though Morse said he does not recall any incidents involving primates and people, he does not recommend them for pets.

"Most monkey species do not make good pets," he said. "You got an animal that takes great expertise to handle."

Penalties are there for people who keep primates illegally or neglect them.

If a primate is found to be in a home illegally it will be immediately siezed and brought to an appropriate facility, Mr. Morse said.

Dr. Milt McKelvie, owner of the Del Prado Veterinary practice in Cape Coral, has some clients with exotic pets including smaller monkey primates.

He recommends that people think twice about getting a primate for a pet.

"They're cute and cuddly when they're babies," he said. "But what do you do with them the rest of the time?"

The incident that happened last week involved a chimpanzee owned by 70-yearold Sandra Herold. According to reports, the chimp — which was obtained as a baby — escaped from his home and a friend of Ms. Herold was summoned to help get him back. The chimp became agitated and an attack ensued, leaving the woman severely injured.

This incident brings to the forefront what Patty Ragan, director for the Center of Great Apes in Wauchula, preaches — primates are meant to live in their own habitats — not in diapers in the family home.

"Chimpanzees are incredibly intelligent. They have a sense of humor and they can be empathetic," Ms. Ragan said. "But because of their strength, they are inappropriate as pets."

Though they are tiny and cuddly as babies, apes and chiimps grow into powerful

primates, she added. To take them from their natural surroundings and expect them to live as human children is unfair to the animals, Ms. Ragan said.

The Center for Great Apes is a tranquil, 100-acre parcel filled with the sounds of birds, the whistle of bamboo and the cheery chatter of chimpanzees and orangutans.

There are no couches or fancy meals with people.

The Center is home to more than 40 chimpanzees and orangutans. They live as nature intended — as apes — not household pets.

"People need to know to not buy apes for pets," Ms. Ragan said.

But because some folks give in to the temptation to have what they perceive as a fuzzy, comical pet, problems and tragedies can and do persist.

Aside from private pet owners, support of apes in the entertainment industry often eventually leads to unwanted fully grown apes.

With fewer dollars going to wellequipped sanctuaries such as the Center for the Great Apes, and less space being available, there is not much room for apes that have been in commercials or in the entertainment field.

A lack of funding is making it hard for sanctuaries to take in apes in need of an appropriate habitat.

Ms. Ragan said vital funding and the need for people not to support apes as entertainers and pets is crucial to their survival.

As one of only 10 ape sanctuaries in North America, Ms. Ragan fields calls from people requesting homes for apes. Right now there are about 15 chimpanzees nationwide in need of homes in appropriate sanctuaries.

In North Florida, two grown chimps in need of a sanctuary, are being cared for in a back yard.

Though Ms. Ragan wants to help, she can't. It costs about $15,000 a year to care for one ape — that's more than $600,000 for the center's 42 residents.

And in a sour economy where funding is scarce, decisions are tough to make.

"I've had to turn animals down," she said.

Often zoos won't accept unwanted apes because they do not have the habitat, space and social structure needed for the highly intelligent animals. Apes cannot just be introduced to another unknown group of apes at a zoo and be expected to co-exist in peace. They need to be socialized and quarantined, Ms. Ragan said.

"It's a real problem," she said.

When they grow up and are no longer the cute cuddly, apes in commercials such as the trunk monkey ads, there are no royalties or golden parachutes to rely upon.

Dennis Balgemann, a long-time private collector of monkey primates, including capuchins and spider monkeys, supports strict laws regarding primate ownership.

Mr. Balgemann and his partner Mike Wong have owned and managed their primates on a six-acre parcel in North Fort Myers for decades. The two have all the permits and licensing in place and have the proper enclosures for the monkey colonies. They also never have any physical contact with the primates. Their hope is to someday pass the land on to an educational and research facility.

"There is a lot of personal expense in keeping exotic animals," Mr. Balgemann said.

He added that legislation should be passed that would require licensing for different stages of apes development. Meaning there would be a timeline for how long someone could own a primate.

"They are not suitable for family situations," he said. "No matter how well they're raised they can't be trusted. They're smart —it doesn't matter the size of the monkey."