OkcPets Magazine January 2024

22 OKC Pets • January / February 2024 he matured, he became overly aggressive with some members of his household. His owner made the difficult decision to rehome Prince at OPS. Because of the pandemic (monkeys can contract COVID too), Prince had to undergo an extensive quarantine. The initial transi- tion was stressful for him, but the young rhesus boy is now thriving in an outside introduction enclosure where he can see and communicate with other monkeys vocally and visually. Although Prince has never been around other monkeys, he is settling in nicely and pays close attention to what the others are doing and how they be- have. This is one more step in the process to help him get to the point that he can socialize with other monkeys and live a more normal life. Retirement from Research No one can tell from looking at him now, but there was a time when the future for Bugg, an adult long-tailed ma- caque, looked very bleak. He was one of 55 long-tailed macaques that were used for pharmaceutical testing by the now bankrupt AniClin Laboratories in New Jersey. Bugg’s life hung in the balance as the bank and the laboratory went back and forth in negotiations. Then suddenly the doors were shut, leaving the mon- keys and more than 100 beagles trapped inside with no one to care for them. Finally, a court order was issued, releas- ing the beagles and macaques to welfare organizations and sanctuaries. Eight of those macaques, including Bugg, were accepted at OPS. Because they had all been housed individually at the lab, they needed time to develop their social skills and physical conditioning. Today they all live in socially compati- ble groups outdoors, where they enjoy a stimulating and enriched environment. Forty percent of the primates currently at OPS are retired from laboratories, according to Tim Ajax, OPS executive director. “We are grateful that these animals were given the chance to retire to a sanctuary and happy to provide a caring home for them when space allows. Most of the over 75,000 monkeys utilized in research are put into other protocols or humanely killed at the conclusion of the laboratory testing in which they were involved,” states Ajax. Pumpkins are a favorite of monkeys, and Prince is no exception.