From a private zoo to life on the run
Sasha and Kali lived for years in a private owner’s garden, surrounded by other wild animals that should never have been in private ownership in the first place. The garden housed around 20 different species, including big cats, primates and birds of prey.
The animals’ owner was fatally injured by a leopard in his care. After his death, his daughter inherited his private collection of animals and started looking for new homes for them. When she had rehomed most of the animals, four Japanese macaques were left, and she reached to AAP Animal Advocacy and Protection for help.
Sadly, just days before we were to pick up the animals, a situation occurred in which two animals died and Sasha escaped into the nearby forest. For weeks, she evaded attempts to capture her, to the point that local authorities threatened to shoot her on sight.
Meanwhile, Kali was isolated in a small wooden crate, kept by a local man who said he was keeping him in “quarantine” and claimed to be a veterinarian.
We knew we had to intervene. We took Kali from his crate and immediately brought him to our rescue centre in Almere, the Netherlands. After weeks of Sasha evading capture by the local authorities, we were allowed to try to catch her ourselves, and our veterinarian thankfully was able to bring her safely to AAP Almere as well.
Scarred by the past
When Sasha and Kali arrived at our rescue centre, they underwent a thorough check-up by our vet team, who made a shocking discovery: a bullet, lodged in Sasha’s hindquarters.
It is not clear exactly when or how the bullet ended up there. For now, the bullet does not appear to be causing Sasha any pain. We are therefore waiting for her to recover from the stress of her rescue before we consider surgical removal.
False identities
More mysteries emerged as we received more information about the animals. Kali’s papers claimed that he was bought from a zoo in Rome in 2016 and is now 30 years old, which is exceptionally old for a Japanese macaque. However, our vet estimates his age to be approximately 22. He is also not neutered, despite his papers claiming the contrary.
Sasha: 24, 18 or only 6 years old?
Sasha’s documents likewise raise major questions. They state that she was purchased in 2024 and is 24 years old; meanwhile, her microchip (a different number to the one detailed in her papers) claims she is 18. In fact, based on her physical development, our veterinarian estimates that she is at most six years old.
“You only see things like this when someone has something to hide,” says Julie, coordinator of the rescue operation.
The patchwork of animal trading and welfare regulations across the EU opens up ample opportunities for wild animals legally traded in one country to enter the illegal pet trade in another and vice versa.
We may never know exactly what happened to Sasha and Kali. But we can take steps to stop opaque trade and problematic private ownership from impacting other animals in the future.
Looking ahead: preventing suffering with an EU Positive List
We hope to eventually place Sasha and Kali in a larger group of Japanese macaques and find a suitable home for the group with a outplacement partner. But that only addresses part of the problem. We need to protect wild animals from suffering in the European pet trade in the future.
To do that, we need your help. We’ve launched a petition calling for the introduction of an EU-wide Positive List, which would specify which species can be kept as pets. Off the list? That’s a “no” to private ownership.
We would also like to see the EU implement rules to improve the traceability of wild animals across the EU, making it harder to carry out illegal trade activities. This approach would help prevent wild animals like Sasha and Kali, and many of their previous companions, from being kept as pets in the first place.
