Charles River to Purchase Cambodian Monkey Supplier

In January, Charles River Laboratories (CRL)—a major provider of biomedical products and services—announced a $510 million agreement to acquire K.F. (Cambodia) Ltd., one of its suppliers of captive-bred monkeys for use in research and testing. CRL stated the acquisition would “enable greater oversight and operational control of a key supply source.”

Prior to 2023, CRL sourced many of its monkeys from Cambodia. In late 2022, however, the Cambodian supply chain came under scrutiny when six representatives of Vanny Resources Holdings, Ltd. and related companies (collectively, “Vanny”), along with two Cambodian government officials, were federally charged with multiple felonies stemming from an alleged international conspiracy to smuggle wild-caught monkeys into the United States for biomedical research under paperwork falsely identifying them as captive-bred at Vanny’s Cambodian breeding center (see AWI Quarterly, spring 2025). Shortly thereafter, CRL came under federal investigation over its monkey imports from Cambodia, prompting the company to suspend shipments of monkeys from that country.

CRL has since resumed imports from Cambodia, and this acquisition signals an intent to continue. Meanwhile, however, Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy has hinted at a possible ban on monkey imports. 

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