Three monkeys were shot following an accident on a Pennsylvania highway involving a trailer of 100 primates destined for use in research. Originating from Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, the monkeys were flown thousands of miles to New York on Kenya Airways and, despite the frigid weather, were reportedly being transported to a quarantine facility in Florida when the accident occurred on January 21. Wooden crates spilled onto the highway, allowing the three monkeys to escape. In another deadly incident, an unknown number of 720 primates who were being transported from Cambodia to a research animal dealer in Houston, Texas, died aboard a charter plane operated by Wamos Air, according to a news report.

The dangers associated with transporting monkeys is nothing new. In fact, AAVS documented the extreme conditions primates are forced to endure in our 2011 report “Primates by the Numbers: The Use and Importation of Nonhuman Primates for Research and Testing in the United States.” It documents similar extremely long travel times and the serious suffering primates face during these transports.

Although Kenya Airways announced that it would no longer transport primates for research—as many airlines have done, it’s time for Wamos Air, owned in part by the Royal Caribbean cruise company, to make a compassionate choice and do the same!