This site will be continually under construction and changing as the states, counties and municipals continually change their regulations and laws. These are the current regulations for 1996 that we have received to date. If you have other information, please let us know the citations of those laws or regulations, the state and when the changes went or will go into effect by sending e-mail to lawschange@monkeymaddness.com.
Regulation is by the NY State Department of Environment Conservation - Fish and Wildlife - Special Licenses in Albany, NY and by the NY City Department of Health - Animal Affairs - Veterinary Public Health Services. The state requires that any pet primate not be on their NY State endangered animal list which is similar, but different, from CITES Appendix I. The city requires that any pet not be an ape (chimpanzee, etc..and I've been told that no exemptions are given for pet ape ownership). Both City and State require that all Centers of Disease Control and Federal Regulations be followed, which means the pet must be captive-bred and you maintain written proof all of its ancestors came to the US before October 1975. No permits/licenses/fees are required for pet primates in the State or any of the five boroughs of the City! Generous for a metro area, no?
Also, there is a special person at the ASPCA in New York City who is supposed to talk to you about pet primate ownership (and discourage it), but her info is strictly advisory. (Every year, there are several reported cases of pet primates biting humans and other pet primate problems in the City.)