AceShowbiz - Ricky Gervais is backing a campaign to stamp out the trade in baby monkeys for laboratory research, branding the practice "shameful" and "disgusting". Officials at the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) are calling for an end to the international industry, claiming thousands of wild primates are taken from their families every year for export to research centers.

And animal-loving funnyman Gervais is adding weight to their Stop the Baby Trade campaign by donning a BUAV and urging his fans to publicize the issue. He says, "Imprisoning monkeys and snatching their babies is a disgusting way to treat other primates. Monkeys are highly intelligent beings who feel pain and distress, just like us... Please support the BUAV to end this shameful cruelty. We must Stop the Baby Trade."