Indonesia’s Bali, with its beautiful beaches and ancient temples, is a tourist hotspot where many businesses cater to foreign travelers, including those that sell art and curios.
A new study finds that primate skulls, including those from threatened species such as orangutans, gibbons and proboscis monkeys, are openly sold in these shops, despite the trade being illegal.
Between 2013 and 2024, researchers recorded more than 750 carved and uncarved primate skulls sold to mainly foreign tourists, with sales increasing over time.
Conservationists say this illegal, barely monitored international trade poses an additional threat to already threatened…