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 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.

Read the regulations: The Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations 2024

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 licensing@cheltenham.gov.uk

Exemptions

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.

Existing keepers

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.

Dangerous wild animals

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.

PDF Icon Primate Application Form - pdf - 320 Kb

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.

Will tacit consent apply?

No. It is in the public interest that the authority must process your application before it can be granted.

Primate licence guidance

The Secretary of State has published statutory guidance on primate keeper licences. We must take this guidance into account when carrying out our licensing functions under the regulations.

The three parts of the guidance are:

Licensing process for keeping primates

Licence conditions for primate keepers (Schedule 1)

Callitrichids: licence conditions for keepers (Annex A)

Renew an existing licence

We will publish information on how to apply to renew a primate keeper licence shortly. Please check back for more information at a later date.