Saturday, February 02, 2008
Malaysia abandons plan to export macaque monkeys (3:08 p.m.)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia has dropped plans to capture macaque monkeys in urban areas and export them for food and scientific research, after discovering most of the animals are riddled with diseases, a Cabinet minister said Saturday.
The government last year lifted a decades-old ban on the export of the long-tailed monkeys, saying it would help curb their booming population in cities where they attack people and raid food supplies. Activists have opposed the pla n as cruel.
A recent health check by wildlife officials found that 80 percent of urban macaques carried diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, hepatitis and the HIV/AIDS virus, said Environment Minister Azmi Khalid.
"Only 20 percent are healthy but only half of that are marketable in terms of their size. That means if we catch 100 monkeys in urban areas, only 10 can be exported, which is not viable," he told The Associated Press.
Allowing the export could also encourage traders to hunt the monkeys in the wild, which was not allowed under the plan, he said.
"It is not government policy to allow monkeys in their natural habitat to be caught. Therefore, we will not allow the export of even urban monkeys because of the possibility of abuse," he said.
An estimated 250,000 macaques are living in Malaysian urban areas while another 480,000 are in the wild, Azmi said, adding the government may adopt a policy to kill monkeys that turn aggressive.
"In some places, they are loved by the residents so let it be. But in areas where they cause problems and attack residents, we have no choice but to kill them," he said.
Long-tailed macaques are listed as endangered under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna, which restricts their trade. Malaysia is a signatory to the convention but can trade the monkeys if it shows it will not hurt the survival of the species. (AP) |
