Keeping primates, like baboons and other monkeys, as pets will be illegal in Arizona starting Saturday. The regulation was recently passed by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission.
Officials say the main reason was a concern over human health and safety.
Danielle Benza, a primate keeper at the Phoenix Zoo, said primates are harder for private citizens to keep as pets because they are wild animals with very specific care needs.
"They’re social. Which means that you shouldn’t keep just one," said Benza. "They need to be in a group, they need to be with others of their kind and people typically can’t do that. So they have behavioral and social issues that need to be addressed."
People who already own a primate will be grandfathered into the policy. Arizona joins 26 other states with similar regulations.
