Air France's Monkey Business

Watch LCA's PSA 'Air France's Monkey Business'

Air France, the last major European airline to ship non-human primates, transports tens of thousands of primates a year for cruel and invasive animal experimentation. Air France passenger and Air France-KLM cargo planes transport monkeys, often stolen from wild habitats in Vietnam and the Republic of Mauritius. Although United Airlines and China Eastern Airlines stopped transporting primates in early 2013, Air France, Philippine Airlines and China Southern continue to transport them.

Discreetly loaded onto the cargo hold of the passenger planes, the monkeys and their babies, jammed in tiny wooden crates measuring 4ft x 1.4ft x 1.6ft, travel for 30 hours or more underneath unsuspecting Air France passengers. Many terrified monkeys die during the grueling international flights, suffering from stress, trauma, dehydration, parasitic worm infestation and intestinal hemorrhaging.

Long-tailed Mauritius macaques	Air France primate cargo (photo courtesy of BUAV)

The majority of monkeys transported for research are long-tailed macaques who have resided on Mauritius for over 400 years when they were brought over by Portuguese sailors. In high demand by the American and European research industries, more than 10,000 macaques priced at $4,000 each are exported from Mauritius each year. Air France is the main commercial airline responsible for transport.

Hired by trapping and breeding companies in Mauritius such as Noveprim, Ltd. and Bioculture Mauritius, Ltd., trappers kidnap and split these highly intelligent and social monkeys from their families by luring them into cages baited with sugar cane and bananas during the winter when it is more difficult to find food. The monkeys are then kept in large breeding facilities before they are exported to research facilities in the US, UK, Spain, and France.

Air France continues to transport primates despite public outcry and pressure from animal advocacy organizations. Air France Board of Directors member, Jean-Francois Dehecq, is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sanofi-Aventis, a French pharmaceutical company.

Baby macaque in research facility (Photo courtesy of Brian Gunn)	Macaque in testing facility (Photo courtesy of Brian Gunn)

Behind the confines of testing facilities, monkeys are victims of torment, torture and inhumane procedures, facing horrors such as mutilation, poisoning, food deprivation, imposed infections from painful diseases, drug addiction, and psychological torment. Driven mentally ill by the stress and terror of being locked in barren steel cages, many monkeys are known to exhibit certain behaviors like spinning and rocking incessantly, ripping out their hair, and biting into their own flesh.

Captive macaques in a research facility (Photo courtesy of Brian Gunn)

“The public tide is turning against the use of non-human primates in general, and researchers must either find alternatives or convince the public there is a compelling reason to continue such research,” says Paul Root Wolpe, director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which is home to the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. “If scientists don’t make a louder, more persuasive public case,” he says, “more companies — not only in transportation — will choose the side of animal-rights advocates.”

On May 15th, 2013 LCA's Air France Monkey Business billboard went up just minutes away from LAX on Century Blvd and La Cienega Blvd. The billboard is 20' by 50' and is highly visible to traffic going into the airport from Los Angeles. The huge billboard is a giant humiliation for Air France, linking them to the vivisection industry.

Watch the time lapse of LCA's Air France Monkey Business billboard going up by LAX

On May 23rd 2013, LCA's second billboard went up on the heavily trafficked Sunset Blvd in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles. The billboard is stylized with graffiti with the Air of Air France crossed out and replaced with the word Scare.

LCA's 'graffiti' billboard in Silverlake, CA for Air France Monkey Business campaign

On May 31st, 2013 LA Weekly wrote an article about LCA's Air France billboard campaign on their website.

What you can do:

1. Email the CEO OF AIR FRANCE and ALL major Air France contacts below TODAY, urging them to STOP shipping primates to cruelty!

CEO & Chairman of Air France-KLM Group
Jean-Cyril Spinetta
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CEO of KLM and VP of Air France KLM Cargo
Camiel Eurlings
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Executive VP Organization and Sustainable Development
Bertrand Lebel
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Head of US Office
Jan Kerms
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UK & Ireland General Manager
Henri Hourcade
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Please email all of these Air France contacts and forward to friends and family.

SAMPLE E-MAIL:

Dear (Insert Name),

I am horrified to learn from Last Chance for Animals that Air France has not yet ended their policy of shipping primates to lab cruelty. Your company is one of the last major European airlines that continues to ship primates to testing facilities worldwide. It is important that Air France recognize it is directly helping to promote animal cruelty through its current transportation practices.

The monkeys Air France transports experience extreme temperature fluctuations, poor ventilation and debilitating noise that causes stress, trauma, dehydration, and intestinal hemorrhaging. Many of them die en-route during these journeys which can last longer than 30 hours. Once they reach their destinations, they are subjected to torment, torture and inhumane procedures, facing horrors such as mutilation, poisoning, food deprivation, and psychological torment.

Air France has ignored repeated requests to stop transporting primates despite public outcry. I am demanding that Air France join the majority of other leading airlines and discontinue its inhumane policies on primate transportation to laboratories. Air France STOP shipping primates to lab cruelty!

Sincerely,

(Your name)

2. Contact Air France and tell them you will not fly Air France until they end primate transportation:

Head Office - France
45, rue de Paris F-95747 Roissy CDG Cedex
FRANCE
Tel: +33 (0)1 41 56 78 00
Fax: +33 (0)1 41 56 84 19
French Call Center: +33 (0)892 702 654
Website: www.airfrance.com

Head Office - United States
142 W 57th St
New York, NY 10019
Tel: 1-212-830-4000
Customer Care: 1-800-237-2747
Customer Relations: 1-800-992-3932
Website: www.airfrance.us

3. Sign the petition demanding Air France stop primate transportation:
www.change.org/petitions/air-france-stop-tranporting-primates-bound-for-research-labs

4. Send a personalized and polite email to the French Ambassador François Delattre:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Click here for an example letter)

5. Share LCA’s Air France Monkey Business video on Facebook and Twitter:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA-LI8-b63Y

6. Make the comment PLEASE STOP THE TRANSPORT OF PRIMATES BOUND FOR RESEARCH! on Air France’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/airfrance

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