A listing offering a weeks-old green monkey for $500 has triggered sharp criticism from visitors and animal rights campaigners, who warn that the trade in infant primates for tourist photos is damaging Barbados’s reputation and may involve the killing or separation of mother animals.

The controversy has exposed a dark underbelly of the treatment of animals, where wild primates are routinely separated from their families to be used as lucrative photo opportunities on popular beaches or paraded through public transport vehicles. For many regular visitors, the latest commercial listing represents a breaking point for a destination that prides itself on being a welcoming paradise.

A frequent visitor to Barbados, who regularly organises group tours to the island, expressed deep distress over the visible escalation of animal cruelty. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the visitor detailed the harrowing reality confronting tourists who arrive expecting an idyllic escape.