An escaped pet monkey died in Walterboro. What does that say about S.C’s exotic pet laws? (2024)

Questions remain after a pet monkey named Bradley escaped from a private residence in Walterboro last week and was found dead May 27.

How a primate native to East Asia make its way to Colleton County in the Lowcountry wasn't hampered by laws or red tape, experts say.

South Carolina has some of the nation's most lax exotic pet laws, with no bans on a wide range of unconventional animals. With the task of regulation mainly left in the hands of local governments, advocates say the lack of broad policy perpetuates a trade harmful to the animals and dangerous for humans.

Various news outlets reported that the 15-year-old Japanese macaque was shot by an area-homeowner in an effort too protect their dog from an attack. County officials have not confirmed that account. The search for Bradley drew in animal control, news crews and citizens armed with bananas to use as bait and airsoft rifles.

The monkey lived with his owners in Walterboro for six years, according to a press release announcing his recovery. While most states ban the ownership of small primates as pets, South Carolina does not.

South Carolina is one of only three states that doesn't prohibit kangaroo ownership and one of the only states that doesn't ban the sale of venomous snakes at conventions. Without anyone keeping a log of exotic pet ownership, it's unclear how many of these animals live in the state.

Billy Dukes, the chief of wildlife for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, said to the best of his knowledge, exotic pet ownership is by and large omitted from state law and instead put on the backs of local governments.

"Unless prohibited by federal law or local ordinance, there are no restrictions on pet ownership of which I am aware," Dukes said.

Colleton County, where Bradley's multi-day escape occurred, has no laws explicitly prohibiting the ownership of exotic pets as long as owners have a permit and can prove the animal can't be returned to the wild.

Elsewhere in the state are also blanks as it relates to exotic pets. Dorchester County's ordinance makes no mention of regulations. Charleston County requires permits for some pets but leaves the question of prohibition up to the state and federal lawmakers.

Among the only state laws barring exotic pet ownership in South Carolina is the Wild Cats, Non-Native Bears and Great Apes Act, which didn't go into effect until 2018. South Carolina was the 46th state to ban ownership of the act's namesakes. The state also bans the ownership of select native animals, including amphibians.

State law says nothing on the ownership of smaller primates like macaques.

Only three federal laws — the Endangered Species Act, the Public Health Service Act and the Lacey Act — prohibits people from buying certain exotic pets, though they're primarily concerned with importation rather than direct ownership, according to Born Free USA, a nonprofit pushing for more stringent exotic pet ownership laws.

"There's kind of this patchwork of regulation across states and what that does is it facilitates legal trade, obviously, but it also facilitates illegal trade between states," said Liz Tyson, the program director of Born Free USA, who noted the organization rescued 10 monkeys from the black market in the last three years.

Tyson estimated around 15,000 monkeys are owned as pets in the United States. Unlike dogs and cats, which have been domesticated through thousands of years of evolution, primates and other exotic pets are still essentially wild, which makes them a danger to their owners, she said.

Tyson recalled an incident last August where her organization took in a vervet monkey that attacked the owner's son-in-law, bashing him on the head and shoulder. He needed 18 stitches. The owner had the monkey for six years.

True for primates and exotic pets in general, Tyson said, any un-domesticated animal kept in captivity will suffer immensely as they’re unable to have their needs met. In captivity, she said, “their welfare is absolutely compromised in pretty much every way you can imagine."

They need space, they need contact other than human and they need the right climate, Tyson said, “so all of those things combined means if you put a primate in a cage in your back garden or a bird cage in your house, they're going to suffer immensely."

Johanna Teague rescues and breeds sugar gliders, a tiny marsupial most closely related to koalas and kangaroos. She said she breeds four at a time as a hobbyist which doesn’t require a permit. She currently has around 60 in Inman that she adopted.

Teague pointed to various “backyard breeders” who illegally raise sugar gliders in outdoor kennels with unsanitary conditions and rampant inbreeding. Many of the sugar gliders she’s adopted were rescued from these unpermitted breeders, and they are oftentimes malnourished or have deformities.

Teague said she’d love to see more government regulation, but without an immediate resolution in sight, she encourages compassionate pet ownership.

“(Sugar gliders) do become like a child,” Teague said. “They bond to you. They hear your voice, they perk up, they come out to see you. They know if they bark, you're going to give them a treat. So they're something that you have to really want.”