INSIDE EDITION AND CBS NEWS INVESTIGATION FINDS ENDANGERED BABY SPIDER MONKEYS FOR SALE ON TIKTOK

(Must Link & Credit CBS NEWS + INSIDE EDITION)

In joint collaboration, CBS NEWS and INSIDE EDITION investigate the growing trend of spider monkeys being brutally ripped from the wild, then trafficked across the southern border in alarming numbers, driven, experts say, by social media users seeking to keep them as domesticated pets. 

• EARLIER TODAY: CBS NEWS National Environmental Correspondent David Schechter joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as they partnered with Border Patrol to confiscate illegally trafficked animals and relocate them to facilities equipped to provide proper care. However, space at these facilities is running low, as an increasing number of monkeys are being captured and cannot be returned to their native habitats due to health and safety regulations related to zoonotic diseases. WATCH THE REPORT HERE. 

• TONIGHT: INSIDE EDITION special guest correspondent Brooke Baldwin went undercover as a potential buyer, connecting with two sellers online before traveling to Houston, Texas to meet them in person in parking lots for the exchange. Both Texas sellers offered Baldwin two-month-old baby spider monkeys in exchange for $6,500. Baldwin did not buy either baby. After she revealed she was with INSIDE EDITION, both sellers didn’t answer her questions and drove off. WATCH PREVIEW CLIP HERE.

• After that meeting, in response to further questions from INSIDE EDITION producers, the two people Baldwin met with said they were not selling the baby spider monkeys but were “rehoming” them. They did not explain where they got the baby spider monkeys from. 
• A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service source told INSIDE EDITION that the sale and/or trafficking of endangered spider monkeys is illegal.

• LATER THIS WEEK: Schechter travels to Peru and a town at the mouth of the Amazon known for trafficking endangered animals. He embeds with local authorities as they raid markets, uncovering endangered species for sale and works with local activists aiming to rescue, rehab, and release the animals. 

To watch INSIDE EDITION check your local listings for times and stations in your area at www.insideedition.com and watch CBS MORNINGS on CBS starting at 7AM.

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