'I would do anything to keep my monkeys amid licence changes'

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. 'I would do anything to keep my monkeys amid licence changes'2 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleEmily DoughtyLisa-Marie BearmanLisa-Marie's marmosets include Super T, Autumn-Belle and KobaLisa-Marie Bearman shares her three-bed terrace home in Kent with a dozen monkeys. The marmoset troop is her "entire life", she says, and their enclosure dominates her garden. She has sacrificed holidays with her husband for 16 years to care for them, but now she fears they could be taken away and put down after a change in the law.

The government has introduced a licensing scheme that requires the thousands of pet monkeys in the country be kept in "zoo-like" conditions. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the government department responsible for the legislation, said primates needed zoo-level welfare standards and it was working with local authorities on how to enforce the scheme. But only a small number of licences have been granted, with none issued in Kent, the has found.

The Details

Animal welfare experts warn thousands of monkeys could be put down in a potential "mass euthanasia" of primates as a result. Bearman's garden, in Rochester, is never quiet. The marmosets share the garden with the other family pets: a rabbit, two tortoises and a dog.

The marmosets are among the 3,000 to 5,000 primates the government estimates are kept privately across the UK. Having loved monkeys since she was a child, Bearman, a clinical-hypnotherapist, said: "In the real, most beautiful world, all animals would be free, but their natural habitat has been destroyed and these monkeys have been born in captivity. "Their care comes from us as a family giving them everything we possibly can.

"The Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations 2024 came into force on 6 April 2026. Owners found to have primates without a licence face a six-month prison sentence and an unlimited fine. Lisa-Marie BearmanLisa-Marie's enclosures were custom built by her husbandTo acquire a licence, they must meet "zoo-like" welfare conditions, which include:Both an outdoor and inside space.

What Experts Say

For a pair of marmosets the outdoor enclosure must be a minimum of 2. 2 ft) x 4m (13 ft) x 2. 2 ft)A diet tailored to the individual primate's needsAllowing primates to exhibit normal behaviourBeing housed with, or apart from, other animals appropriatelyBearman believes licences are needed but was surprised by how stringent the requirements were.

" really isn't designed around private keepers living in their homes and gardens, where we're very limited by height, size restrictions and planning permissions," she said. Many welfare organisations, including the RSPCA, do not believe home environments can ever be suitable for a primate and continue to call for a full ban. When the policy was announced in 2024, a government minister said it was "essentially incorrect" to say the licence was not a ban.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.