Primate keeper licences
New regulations mean that from 6 April 2026, you will need a licence if you keep one or more primates, these include:
- Marmosets
- Tamarins
- Squirrel Monkeys
- Spider Monkeys
- Capuchin Monkeys
- Lemurs
- Lorisids (also known as bush babies)
The regulations can be read here: The Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations 2024
The only exemptions from the requirement to hold a licence under these regulations will be licensed zoos and medical and research facilities authorised under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
The regulations bring in a licensing scheme, setting strict rules to ensure that only those who can provide zoo-level welfare standards will be able to keep primates.
Existing private primate keepers can apply for a primate licence from April 2025. From 6 April 2026, all private primate keepers and people proposing to keep a primate will be required to hold a licence, valid for a maximum of three years. They will need to be reassessed to renew their permission to keep their animals.
After 6 April 2026, a person who requires a primate licence and keeps a primate in England without one, will be committing an offence under section 13 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and could face imprisonment for a term of up to six months, an unlimited fine or both.
Please be aware that if the species of primate you keep is listed under the Schedule of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, you must hold a Dangerous Wild Animals Licence too. You only need to fill out the one application form for primate keeping and there is a specific section to declare the need for a DWA licence.
How to apply
To apply for a licence you will need to complete an application form and make payment for the application fee. We will contact applicants to inform them of the fee once it has been set.
After you apply for a licence, an inspection by a vet or other suitably qualified and experienced person will be arranged to check whether the licence conditions are likely to be met if the application were to be granted.
Following the inspection, if we are satisfied that the licence conditions are likely to be met, the application will be granted. If we are not satisfied, then the application must be refused.
Licences will normally be granted for a period of three years and will then expire.
Whilst it doesn’t become a legal requirement to hold a licence to keep primates until 6 April 2026, we would encourage all primate keepers to make their applications as early as possible to allow plenty of time for inspections to take place and for decisions to be made. Any licences issued before 6 April 2026, will be granted to take effect from that date.
How to renew an existing licence
Information on how to apply to renew a primate keeper licence will be provided here shortly. Please check back for more information at a later date.
How to make changes to an existing licence
Information on how to apply to make variations to a primate keeper licence will be provided here shortly. Please check back for more information at a later date.
Guidance
The Secretary of State has published statutory guidance on primate keeper licences. We are required to have regard to this guidance when carrying out our licensing functions under the regulations.
Links to the three parts of the guidance are available below:
Licensing process for keeping primates
Licence conditions for primate keepers (Schedule 1)
Callitrichids: licence conditions for keepers (Annex A)
What I have information about a primate being kept in the area?
If you want to pass on any information or concerns about any primates that are currently being kept in the Cheltenham Borough Council area, please contact us by emailing [email protected]
Will tacit consent apply?
No. It is in the public interest that the authority must process your application before it can be granted.