Capuchin monkeys are highly intelligent, socially complex primates facing welfare threats from habitat loss, the bushmeat trade and demand for the exotic pet and entertainment industries.
Capuchin welfare concerns span multiple contexts where their intelligence makes them simultaneously attractive to humans and vulnerable to exploitation. Wild capture for the pet trade involves maternal death and acute trauma for infants. Entertainment training uses dominance and fear-based methods inappropriate for cognitively complex animals. Even "service animal" applications, though well-intentioned, isolate capuchins from their essential social needs. Supporting wild capuchin habitat protection and opposing their use in captive commercial contexts addresses both individual welfare and population conservation.