Baby Monkey Dies on Long Trip to Hawaii Bar

In September 2000, a three month old baby squirrel monkey, who certainly weighed less than a pound, was shipped from Miami to Honolulu via Houston. Tragically, the young infant did not survive the long trip.

She and another monkey were going to be exhibited at the Blue Tropix restaurant and bar. One of the two survived and is currently being exhibited at the bar, as you will see from the photo on this page. Blue Tropix plans to purchase more monkeys.

The Blue Tropix is licensed to exhibit the monkeys by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and held a fund-raiser for the Honolulu Zoo on its premises on 11 February 2001.

On the same day Hawaiian animal activists objecting to the exhibition of the monkey, and also objecting to the zoo's implicit approval of the practice, held a well-attended protest demonstration outside the Blue Tropix. During the protest, the demonstrators were told that the blame for the baby monkey's death lay solely with the airline.

According to Cathy Goeggel of Animal Rights Hawaii,

The bar had placed two trucks on the sidewalk in front of the entrance to block us, but after we called the police and complained about obstruction of the pavement, the bar backed down and moved a truck. We had 5 police squad cars and several officers on site, who were defending our First Amendment Rights to freedom of speech and assembly from the hired goons who didn't care for our message.

Many angry letters protesting the zoo's association with the bar appeared on the Honolulu zoo's web site. One writer commented;

That an unscrupulous bar owner would want to throw a monkey in a fish tank to amuse his drunken customers doesn't particularly surprise me. That the City and Council would allow such a thing in this day and age does surprise me. But the idea that the Zoo would condone and indeed make money on this makes my jaw hit the floor. What were you thinking?

One writer called for the zoo director to be put in a glass cage for a week to "see how he handles it."

Following the storm of protest, the Honolulu Zoo realized it had made a mistake and returned the $1095 proceeds.

Animal Rights Hawaii (ARH) has filed protests against the shipment and the use of the monkey as a bar exhibit with both the USDA and the State Agriculture Department. The latter agency had approved the import of the monkeys into Hawaii.

IPPL obtained from ARH several documents pertaining to the shipment of the two squirrel monkeys from Florida to Hawaii via Texas.

Certificate of veterinary inspection for interstate movement of dogs, cats and other non-livestock species

This was a Division of Animal Industry, Tallahassee, Florida, certificate. It was dated 26 September 2000 and signed by veterinarian Dr. Juan Fernandez-Bravo, 18966 South Dixie Highway, Miami FL 33157.

The certificate was issued to Rainforest Aviaries, a licensed animal dealer operating from 28501 SW 187th Avenue, Miami FL 33030.

Photo by Mana'oto

The consignees were Randy Davies/Darren Tsuchiya, 419 Atkinson Drive, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814. Davies is a monkey dealer based in Arizona. Steve Tsuchiya owns the Blue Tropix.

The animals being shipped were listed as:

• one male squirrel monkey, two years old, vaccinated against rabies on 27 September 2000, and
• one female squirrel monkey, three months old, said to be "too young for rabies vaccine."

Record of inspection/quarantine/provisional quarantine/seizures

This document lists Darren Tsuchiya, Tsuchiya Inc. as consignee. The number of crates is listed as two, as is the number of animals ("Monkey 1.1," i.e. one male and one female).

The "reason for detention" was:
Pre-Shipment Requirement not met. No statement that the monkey was examined and found to be free of ecto-parasites...Future shipment of animals that have not met pre-shipment requirements may result in citation and/or refused entry.

The monkeys were described as:

1. Squirrel monkey, female, three months, dead on arrival. Sent to necropsy.
2. Squirrel monkey, male, two years, brown.

The survivor was "released to owner on 9/28/00."

Necropsy of the dead baby

The necropsy shows the terrible and unnecessary suffering that the traffic in baby monkeys can inflict on unweaned, totally dependent, absolutely helpless animals.

Gross findings: no significant findings. Stomach was empty.

Histopathology: no significant lesions seen in any of the sections examined, including brain, heart, liver, kidney and lung.

Parasitology: none seen.

Bacteriology: Staphylococcus epidermidis isolated. No salmonella/shigella isolated.

The diagnosis was "probable transport stress." Dr. Thomas R. Sawa, Pathologist, Vet Laboratory, commented:
Based on the results of the gross and histopathological findings, the exact cause of death cannot be determined.

However, this particular squirrel monkey at only 3 months of age may have been unable to withstand the stresses of transport: long flight (7-8 hours) by itself, no dam; apparently unable to drink (empty stomach); nourishment from a baby bottle tied to the top of the cage. It is noteworthy that a two year old squirrel monkey on the same trip arrived in apparent good health.

Shipmaster's Declaration
This declaration shows that the monkeys were carried on Continental Airlines Flight CO 001. They were carried as freight. The port of origin was listed as "IAH" (Houston) and the destination was "HNL" (Honolulu).

The document notes that the crates were loaded on the belt at Honolulu, but that one monkey "appeared dead - upon download from ramp, was found to be dead. Confirmed at quarantine."

This poor little monkey's life was senselessly taken from her when it had barely started. Frank Blanco operates Rainforest Aviaries in Florida, and was supposedly the initial supplier.

Randy Davies, an Arizona-based dealer listed as consignee at a Honolulu address, seems to have served as middleman. Davies peddles monkeys from his Internet site.

In a phone call to IPPL following our publication of documents on the Allo-Primate internet bulletin board, Mr. Blanco stated that he did not feel personally responsible for the death of the baby monkey but instead blamed the airline.

WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT THE "MONKEY BAR" Please send letters objecting to monkeys being brought on long gruelling trips to Hawaii for the purpose of being entertainment props in "monkey bars" or similar institutions, to: James Nakatani, Chair Hawaii Department of Agriculture 1428 South King Street Honolulu, HI 96814, USA Robert Gibbons, DVM, Director USDA/APHIS/Western Region 9580 Micron Avenue, Suite J Sacramento, CA 95827-2623, USA Please send a letter to the Chairman of Continental Airlines requesting that the airlines stop transporting monkeys and investigate why a baby monkey just three months old was accepted for shipment in September 2000. Gordon Bethune, Chairman and CEO Continental Airlines 1600 Smith Street Houston TX 77002, USA