This Rescued Baby Monkey Kept in Poor Care Is an Example of Why Monkeys Should Not Be Kept as Pets
A baby monkey named TikTok was found living in conditions that made the RSPCA step in, and the details are hard to shake. He was being kept in a birdcage in a house in Essex, England, far too young to be on his own.
The case quickly turned into a reminder that monkeys are not simple pets, especially when they need specialized care, space, and social contact that most homes cannot provide. TikTok’s situation was especially upsetting because he was still just a baby and clearly not getting what he needed.
Then Monkey World got involved, and TikTok’s story took a much better turn. Read on.
An inspector of RSPCA, Jack Taylor, said, "Primates are intelligent, sentient, and highly social animals with complex needs that simply cannot be met in a domestic environment."
Fortunately for RSPCA, they were able to secure an agreement that allowed them to take TikTok into their care. Eventually, TikTok was taken in by a shelter for monkeys called Monkey World, which provided him with the care he truly needed.
Alison Cronin, the director of Monkey World, went to collect TikTok personally from the RSPCA.
He was genuinely happy and excited to have Alison bring him to his new family and home. Clydie and Ronnie, the same breed of monkey as the baby, were introduced to TikTok by the rescue.
They hoped that they would become his parents. Since they were both also rescued from a bad situation, the rescue believed they would better adjust to TikTok.
As soon as they were introduced to TikTok, the bond was clearly evident. TikTok jumped excitedly at his mother's call, and Clydie doted on him as well.
Monkey World shared in their press release, "Clydie instantly adopted him as her own, carrying, grooming, and protecting little TikTok."
The rescue soon discovered, after his initial examination, that he was underweight for his age, weighing only 0.2 pounds at 5 to 6 months old. They were confident that he would now receive all the care and love he required from his parents.
The three have become a cute little family, and Clydie and Ronnie are happy to have a son now.
The story of TikTok serves as a lesson on why monkeys should not be kept as pets. Both Monkey World and the RSPCA are working to curb the trend of selling monkeys as pets.
Taylor shared, "TikTok's case perfectly highlights why primates should not be available to the public and why they do not belong in people's homes."
He further added, "This youngster has been wrenched away from his family to be sold as a novelty pet to someone who doesn't know and who hasn't got a hope of being able to give him what he needs. It's a situation that just shouldn't happen."
TikTok is fortunate to have escaped from that place and now has a family. Not many get to have such good luck.
After TikTok’s rescue, see how a rejected baby monkey found comfort with a stuffed animal.
Share this article:
