Monkey hate

Monkey hate is a form of zoosadism where humans have a hatred for monkeys and take pleasure in their suffering. The phenomenon drew public attention after a global monkey torture ring was uncovered by the BBC in 2023.

Baby macaque monkeys are primarily targeted. Monkeys are often referred to by monkey haters as "tree rats".

Occurrence and arrests
Videos of monkeys being tortured or abused have been commonly uploaded to social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook. According to a September 2021–May 2023 study by Asia for Animals’ Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC), videos by pet macaque owners had a total of 12 billion views online, with 12 percent of these videos involving physical torture, and 13 percent involving psychological abuse. Video titles have often contained broken English phrases such as "million pity" and "million sadness".

In 2021, a United States-based Telegram monkey torture group, Million Tears, was closed down after being brought to public attention. The group had about thirty members, who would pay owners of monkeys to carry out abuse on them. In 2023, a continuation of the group, Ape's Cage, which involved around four hundred members, was uncovered by the BBC. Video operators who carried out the monkey torture were primarily based in Indonesia, while the members of the group were largely American and from other Western countries. Torture methods ranged from submerging monkeys in ice water to killing them in blenders, sawing them in half, or cutting off their tails and limbs.

Several notable members of Ape's Cage have been arrested, including American Michael McCartney (known as "Torture King") and two British women, Holly LeGresley and Adriana Orme. Two Indonesian men also received prison sentences for their involvement. "Mr. Ape", the pseudonymous leader of the group, has not been publicly identified.

Animal welfare organizations such as Action for Primates and Lady Freethinker have been involved in investigating monkey hate groups.

Causes
In countries where macaques are native, negative interactions between humans and wild macaques have increased as humans take over monkey habitats, resulting in macaques being considered pests and targeted for abuse.

Dave Gooptar, who helped investigate Ape's Cage, has stated his belief that since baby monkeys mimic certain childlike behaviors and characteristics, many monkey haters are sexual sadists who use baby monkeys as a proxy for children.

Some monkey haters have claimed that their hatred comes from monkeys falling into the uncanny valley, a phenomenon where something that looks almost human but is different in subtle ways triggers revulsion.