Primates in the illegal wildlife trade

WildTrace has recorded 43 cases involving primates from public reports between 2024-01-15 and 2026-09-23, in 9 countries. 5 of them rest on an official or validated source.

CITES appendix I/II. Taxa covered: Nycticebus spp., Macaca spp., Pongo spp., Hoolock spp., Pan spp., Gorilla spp., Sapajus spp., Callithrix spp.. Counts show where this trade is reported, not where it happens: reporting is uneven between countries and languages, and cases whose reports name no place are counted but cannot be mapped.

Where primates cases are reported

• India 9
• Brazil 9
• Indonesia 4
• Thailand 4
• Nigeria 2
• Malaysia 1
• Cameroon 1
• Mexico 1
• South Africa 1

Recent cases

• Rescue · Primates · Kalimantan 2026-09-21 · single
• Seizure · Primates · India 2026-09-18 · corroborated
• Seizure · Primates · location unknown 2026-09-15 · single
• Seizure · Primates · location unknown 2026-09-15 · single
• Seizure · Primates · Digha 2026-09-14 · single
• Seizure · Primates · Jharkhand 2026-09-14 · single
• Arrest · Primates · Tasikmalaya 2026-09-14 · single
• Seizure · Primates · Digha 2026-09-12 · single
• Seizure · Primates · location unknown 2026-09-12 · single
• Seizure · Primates · Odisha 2026-09-10 · single
• Seizure · Hornbills, Primates · Bangkok 2026-09-09 · corroborated
• Seizure · Primates · Balasore 2026-09-08 · corroborated
• Seizure · Primates · location unknown 2026-08-28 · single
• Seizure · Primates · Kano 2026-08-28 · single
• Rescue · Primates · Salvador 2026-08-07 · single
• Seizure · Primates, Rosewood & timber · Dourados 2026-08-02 · single
• Seizure · Primates · location unknown 2026-07-14 · single
• Seizure · Primates · Kano 2026-07-10 · single
• Seizure · Primates · Chirang 2026-06-20 · corroborated
• Seizure · Primates · 6 live · Kuala Lumpur 2026-06-09 · single
• Seizure · Primates · location unknown 2026-06-06 · single
• Rescue · Primates · Picos 2026-04-10 · official
• Conviction · Primates · location unknown 2026-04-03 · single
• Seizure · Primates · Indonesia 2026-03-12 · single
• Rescue · Primates · Americana 2026-03-06 · single

Where seized primates came from, and where it was seized

542 shipments of primates seized or confiscated were reported to CITES since 2015 (CITES Trade Database, source code I). Counts are shipment records, not quantities, and some countries report far more completely than others.

Follow primates on the Flows map →

See primates on the map → Download all cases (CSV)