Primate keeper licences
There are now strict rules to ensure that only those able to provide zoo-level welfare standards will be able to keep primates.
From 6 April 2026 anyone other than licensed zoos and certain medical research facilities keeping primates must have a primate keeper licence.
Primates include:
- marmosets
- tamarins
- squirrel monkeys
- spider monkeys
- capuchin monkeys
- lemurs
- lorisids (also known as bush babies)
Existing private primate keepers could apply for a primate licence from April 2025. By April 2026, all private primate keepers and people proposing to keep a primate will be required to hold a licence. Licences will be valid for a maximum of three years, with further assessment to ensure continued compliance on renewal.
From April 2026 a person keeping a primate without a primate keeper licence will be committing a criminal offence. Conviction for unlicensed keeping of a primate carries a penalty of imprisonment for a term of up to six months, an unlimited fine, or both.
See the regulations on keeping primates