EGYPTAIR: Stop Shipping Monkeys to Their Deaths!

EGYPTAIR has gone back on its word and has resumed shipping monkeys to their deaths in laboratories, risking the spread of disease and depleting the world of an endangered species, all to make a few quick bucks. We need your help to stop it.

PETA has learned that the airline recently shipped approximately 500 long-tailed macaques—listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature—from the island nation of Mauritius to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, all bound for torment in laboratories. Moreover, they were reportedly shipped from a monkey-breeding company that has been in the midst of an outbreak of tuberculosis, a highly infectious disease that monkeys have transmitted to humans.

This shipment is a blatant violation of EGYPTAIR’s pledge last year announcing that in view of its support of “the vision and mission” of animal protection organizations, it would no longer transport monkeys to laboratories.

Shamefully, that promise ended up proving worthless.

Every year, tens of thousands of monkeys are sent to the US to be imprisoned in laboratories and tormented in experiments that consistently fail to lead to meaningful scientific advances.

These highly social and sensitive individuals are either captured in nature or bred in captivity on squalid factory farms, where many die from injury and disease even before they’re crammed into small wooden crates and confined to the dark, terrifying cargo holds of planes for more than 30 hours.

Thanks to the efforts of PETA entities, other animal protection organisations, and caring people around the globe, nearly every major airline in the world has stopped transporting monkeys to laboratories. Let’s use our collective voices again to urge EGYPTAIR to join them!

Take Action Now

Please send polite e-mails to the EGYPTAIR staff below, asking them not to transport monkeys to laboratories or be involved in this cruel industry in any other way. EGYPTAIR should join other airline industry leaders in prohibiting the shipment of primates destined for laboratories.

Ahmed Shaheen
Chair, EGYPTAIR Cargo
[email protected]

Tarek Adawy
Chief Executive, U.S. and Canada
[email protected]

EGYPTAIR Cargo Manager
John F Kennedy International Airport
[email protected]

Please feel free to use these talking points (but remember that using your own words is always more effective):

• Nearly every major airline in the world refuses to ship monkeys to laboratories, where they’re subjected to horrific treatment. These sensitive animals endure highly invasive surgeries, maternal deprivation, toxicity testing, paralysis through intentional damage to their brain or spinal cord, and much more.
• Monkeys carry diseases that can easily be transmitted to humans, including tuberculosis and herpes B. Not only is the international transport of these animals a serious ethical issue, it also represents a grave threat to the health and safety of the public—including your flight and ground crews.
• The monkeys EGYPTAIR is transporting, long-tailed macaques, are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as an endangered species. Multiple importers are currently under investigation for possible violations of monkey-importation laws.