22 'dancing monkeys’ rescued from cruel ‘Topeng Monyet’ trade

Image: Rescued monkeys - Unyil, Cino and Subur. Courtesy of Jakarta Animal Aid Network

In September, we reached out to you with an urgent request to rescue 30 long-tailed macaques trapped in the barbaric 'Dancing Monkey' or ‘Topeng Monyet’ trade in Indonesia. We are thrilled to share that 22 of these monkeys have been successfully rescued in a major joint rescue operation with our partner JAAN.

Because of your compassionate support, these monkeys will finally have a second chance at life. A life where they can climb, play, socialise and no longer be exploited for financial gain.

These monkeys were safely relocated to JAAN’s rehabilitation centre in Cikole, West Java, where they will receive love and high-quality veterinary care and finally be able to express their natural behaviours as primates – thanks to you. Their rehabilitation program will focus on nursing them back to health and prepare them for a potential re-release into the wild.

Thanks to your ongoing support, there are more rescues being planned and our partners on the ground are working very hard to negotiate the freedom of the remaining macaques.

These monkeys have endured one of the cruellest training regimes imaginable. After being stolen from their mothers as babies and tortured for months, their living nightmare is finally over.

We helped end bear dancing in Greece, Turkey, India and Nepal, and now we are one step closer to ending these horrific dancing monkey practices in Indonesia for good. We look forward to the day when we can celebrate a nationwide ban on dancing monkeys.

Macaques are wild animals who have the right to life a wild life. We’re happy that together with our partners at Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) we can give these monkeys a second chance.

Long-tailed macaques like Johnny (now renamed as Panjul), Unyil and Jono were taken from the wild as infants to be cruelly trained for months on end, with the aim to ‘dance’, walk on stilts, wear human clothing and masks made from doll heads, and beg for money from shoppers and tourists on the busy streets of Indonesia.

And after every excruciating day of ‘work’, these monkeys would often be locked inside dark boxes until the morning.

During the rescue, Unyil looked fragile and scared and wanted to be close to his friend Jono, who was chained a little bit further away. Thanks to your generosity, these previously exploited monkeys will now have lives worth living.