More than 46,000 people have joined Lady Freethinker, Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN), Action for Primates, and other advocates in calling on Indonesia to stop exporting endangered long-tailed macaques for biomedical research and testing.
To tackle this issue, organizations joined forces to create United For Primates, a coalition dedicated to protecting Indonesia’s long-tailed macaques from the research export trade.
On International Primate Day, September 1, United For Primates representatives officially delivered the petition to key Indonesian authorities – a major step made possible by supporters like you who signed the petition and shared the campaign.
Your voice was heard.
The petition, initiated by Lady Freethinker, JAAN, and Action for Primates, gathered more than 46,565 signatures in just two weeks. That extraordinary response shows how strongly people feel about protecting these intelligent, sensitive animals from suffering.
AFJ/United for Primates
Long-tailed macaques are already classified as Endangered, yet Indonesia has issued a 2026 export quota for 1,929 of these animals – the first recorded export quota since 2022.
For the macaques caught up in this trade, the suffering begins long before they ever reach a laboratory. These highly intelligent, social wild animals may be captured from the wild or bred in captivity, separated from their social groups, confined, and transported over long distances before ultimately being used in biomedical research and toxicity testing.
The fear, stress, isolation, and loss of freedom involved cause immense suffering – and the physical and psychological harms experienced by non-human primates used in research have been widely documented.
AFJ/United for Primates
Yet all of this is happening at a time when science is increasingly moving toward sophisticated, human-relevant methods that can reduce and replace the use of animals in research. Around the world, scientists, regulators, and research institutions are investing in approaches such as human cell and tissue models, organoids, organ-on-a-chip technologies, computer modelling, and other new approach methodologies.
These advances raise an important question: As science moves toward more humane and human-relevant approaches, why expand a trade that sends endangered primates into the laboratory supply chain?
United For Primates is calling on the Indonesian government to stop the export of long-tailed macaques for biomedical research and toxicity testing, strengthen protections for the species, and ensure that wild macaques are not captured or used to supply commercial breeding facilities and export operations.
On International Primate Day, United For Primates carried those demands directly to Indonesian authorities – backed by more than 46,000 people who had spoken up for these macaques, including supporters like you.
AFJ/United for Primates
That same day, advocates and supporters in Yogyakarta took to the streets to raise awareness and show that Indonesia’s long-tailed macaques are not forgotten.
Every signature added weight to the call for change. Every share helped bring more attention to what these macaques face, and every person who spoke up helped send a clear message to Indonesian decision-makers: Endangered long-tailed macaques deserve protection from exploitation and suffering.
To everyone who signed the petition, shared the campaign, or encouraged someone else to take action – thank you.
Now we need to keep that momentum going.
Together, we can continue speaking up for Indonesia’s long-tailed macaques and push for a future in which these remarkable animals are protected, not exploited.
