Ethiopian Airlines to Face Turbulence at Atlanta Airport Over Cruel Monkey Imports

For Immediate Release:
October 9, 2024

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

PETA supporters will cause a ruckus outside the Ethiopian Airlines departure terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport over the airline’s transport of endangered long-tailed macaques from Mauritius and Southeast Asia for use in U.S. experiments. 

The airline, which appears to have ties to an alleged illegal international monkey-smuggling ring, has flown thousands of monkeys to the U.S. in the cargo holds of passenger airplanes, even though it previously told PETA that it had a policy against the practice.

Monkeys imported into the U.S. pose a health risk to humans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has acknowledged that in the past three years imported monkeys have carried deadly diseases and pathogens, including tuberculosis and a dangerous bacterium that’s classified as a bioterrorism agent.

“Ethiopian Airlines puts monkeys through hell in its cargo holds and shows zero regard for public health in the process,” says PETA primate scientist Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel. “PETA calls on the airline to stop flying monkeys to certain death in laboratories and risking the spread of dangerous diseases that could sicken and kill Americans.”

Where: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

International Terminal, Departure Level, near Door D3

2600 Maynard H. Jackson Jr. Blvd., Atlanta, GA

When: Friday, October 11, 8 a.m.

Why: Ethiopian Airlines has transported multiple shipments containing hundreds of monkeys who were allegedly illegally taken from their forest homes, according to testimony and evidence presented in the recent federal trial of accused Cambodian monkey smuggler Masphal Kry. Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited the airline for multiple violations of animal protection laws, including failing to provide proper feeding and watering instructions for 336 monkeys who were crammed inside wooden crates and flown nearly 10,000 miles from Mauritius. The monkeys were left on the tarmac of the Atlanta airport for at least 95 minutes in 85-degree heat. The airline also imported 584 monkeys into the U.S. without mandatory health certificates, according to federal citations.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.

For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.