Three young spider monkeys who were smuggled into the United States and torn from their mothers in the wild are finally ready for their next chapter at Nashville Zoo. Miso, Mei and Matcha, all endangered Mexican spider monkeys, are set to begin gradually joining the zoo's existing spider monkey troops after spending months recovering from the trauma of the illegal pet trade.
The three monkeys were confiscated from the illegal pet trade about six months before the zoo's update, according to WSMV. U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials intercepted them at the border, and the station reports the monkeys came from three separate confiscations rather than a single bust. Before any of that, they had been taken from their mothers in the wild and smuggled into the country.
When they arrived at Nashville Zoo, the infants were dehydrated and malnourished, and they needed intensive, around-the-clock care just to stabilize, the station's report states. Nashville Zoo had previously said its veterinary team would care for the trio at the Nashville Zoo's HCA Healthcare Veterinary Hospital for several months until they were old enough to meet the zoo's troop, noting at the time that the three spider monkeys were just under two months old. The zoo also identified the group as one male, Miso, and two females, Matcha and Mei, respectively.
Why Integration Takes So Long
Spider monkeys have complex social needs and require specialized care, said Courtney Blakey, a hospital keeper at Nashville Zoo, per the same WSMV account. Being alone is mentally unhealthy for the species, and spider monkeys also have substantial nutritional needs that go beyond what an infant recovering from trafficking can manage on its own.
That is why the zoo is easing Miso, Mei and Matcha into contact with adult and juvenile spider monkeys slowly, letting keepers follow the monkeys' own lead rather than forcing a timeline. The trio may be off view to the public for a period during this process as they learn how to integrate into a larger troop.
Other Zoos Have Walked This Same Path
Nashville Zoo has guided rescued spider monkeys through this process before. The zoo has said two other rescued females, Mistletoe and Julia, were gradually introduced to its troop and are now fully integrated, according to a separate Nashville Zoo post.
Similar rescues have played out elsewhere. The Saint Louis Zoo received four Mexican spider monkeys that federal authorities seized as infants in three separate confiscations in spring 2024, according to the Saint Louis Zoo. Those four arrived in April 2025 and were gradually introduced to a resident adult female named Patty; all four had been hand-reared as infants and continued to need specialized care even after joining the troop. In Missouri, Dickerson Park Zoo gave a permanent home to two female spider monkeys rescued from the illegal pet trade, named Noel and Palenque, which have since joined the zoo's troop and gone on public view, KY3 reported.
A Border Trade That Keeps Filling Zoo Nurseries
These cases are not isolated. KY3's report notes that spider monkeys rank among the wildlife most frequently trafficked across the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and that the species requires specialized diets, extensive veterinary care and complex environmental enrichment that average households simply cannot provide.
The scale of the problem is reflected in federal data cited by the Saint Louis Zoo: nearly 50,000 live animals were seized or abandoned at U.S. ports of entry between 2015 and 2019. Since the Wildlife Confiscations Network launched with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in October 2023, it has helped place 4,600 animals, including nearly 100 spider monkeys, into safe, expertly managed environments, including AZA-accredited facilities and other rigorously vetted partners. Keith Lovett has also described spider monkeys as facing mounting pressure from both habitat loss and poaching for the pet trade.
For now, Miso, Mei and Matcha's path forward in Nashville will depend on how they respond to their new troopmates, with keepers watching closely and adjusting as needed.
