A charter company working for Charles River Laboratories, one of the largest U.S. clinical research organizations, was recently fined by Canadian authorities for improperly shipping long-tailed macaques into the country, and the flights have now prompted a probe by officials who oversee an international treaty governing endangered species.
Earlier this month, the Canadian Transportation Agency fined SkyTaxi 7,500 Canadian dollars (roughly U.S. $5,400) for lacking permits to transport the primates on three flights originating from Cambodia between April and August. The paperwork was an issue for the last flight, but the plane was able to proceed to Canada after a stopover in Tbilisi, Georgia, where a Charles River executive intervened with a local cargo company, according to an email exchange between an animal-rights activist and an airport official. The cargo company did not respond to questions, but an airport spokeswoman confirmed the sequence of events.
The episode has now caught the attention of officials who oversee the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, a treaty for protecting endangered plants and animals from the threats of international trade. All airline shipments of species governed by the treaty must comply with International Air Transportation Association regulations.
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