(MY) monkeys exported

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Ban on monkey trading lifted-Malaysiakini.com

Aug 17, 07 3:51am

 

Malaysia has lifted a 23-year-old ban on trading monkeys for research

and food and is in talks with several countries including Japan for

possible export, the New Straits Times reported today.

The ban " was lifted recently, " it said, although adding that the

government has to put in place trade quotas before issuing licenses to

wildlife exporting firms.

Negotiations were already underway for possible exports of macaques to

Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan and Japan, the report said citing sources.

Government officials were not immediately available for comment.

As many as 10,000 Malaysian macaques were exported each year in the

1970s, mainly for laboratory research in the United States and Europe

and to other countries as exotic food or pets, the report said, citing

records.

Growing steadily

The trade led to a drop in the macaque population and subsequently

forced the government to impose the ban in the mid-1980s.

The report quoted an official as saying the macaque population has

grown steadily since the ban and have now become a " nuisance and cause

for many problems. "

Rapid urbanisation has also led to constant reports of humans getting

attacked by the monkeys.

The official said it was better for the macaques to be exported than

culled, the report said.

- AFP

 

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2007/08/18

 

Ministry in a blur on how to export macaques

By : Elizabeth John and Irdiani Mohd Salleh

 

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has lifted a 23-year-old ban that will

see the capture and export of long-tailed macaques from urban areas.

 

The move is meant to reduce macaque numbers in areas where they have

come into conflict with humans.

 

The ban was lifted after a cabinet decision in June, but the Natural

Resources and Environment Ministry has yet to figure out how the

system will work.

 

Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid said export of the macaques could

begin immediately but added that the ministry had still not figured

out the procedures.

 

It is also yet to determine the number of animals to be removed, where

they will be exported to or what will happen to them in the foreign

land and who will be issued export licences.

 

Azmi quoted a Wildlife and National Parks Department study which

showed there were 258,406 macaques in urban areas and 483,747 in the

wild.

 

He, however, declined to say when the study was conducted and how the

figures were so exact.

 

He said the problem was that rising human population had pushed

housing development into macaque territory.

 

" We thought the situation was under control but it has reached a stage

where macaques are a threat.

 

" In some areas, they've even attacked children who were carrying food, " he said.

 

Azmi also cited cases of macaques damaging padi fields in the north,

forcing farmers to shoot up to 40 a day and his own experience of

being attacked by a macaque while playing golf.

 

He said the ministry did not want to appear cruel but it had to think

of the people's well-being.

 

He gave assurances that steps would be taken to ensure that the wild

macaque population stayed sustainable. Azmi refused to be pinned down

on the export quota saying the ministry was studying the impact of

taking out some of the macaques from urban areas.

 

-

 

NST Online » Local News

2007/08/18

 

Monkeys face disaster

KUALA LUMPUR: The lifting of a 23-year-old ban on the export of

long-tailed macaques and loopholes in the Wildlife Protection Act 1972

could be devastating for the species.

A wildlife trader, who requested anonymity said the macaque was

available from Orang Asli suppliers at RM30 per head. They are

exported to China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan at RM300 per animal.

 

" Permits to trap these animals are readily available from the Wildlife

Department, " said the trader, adding that macaques can be hunted with

a RM10 permit.

 

" The problem with the Act is it opens up our forests to hunting and

trapping. Exotic meat is available commercially, but it discourages

people from contributing to the breeding of these animals, " added the

trader.

 

 

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2007/08/18-New Straits Times

 

EDITORIAL: Monkey business

 

IN a way, this is a success story. The peninsular population of

long-tailed macaques had declined by 25 per cent between 1957 and

1975, when their trade was unregulated and these monkeys were

routinely caught for export to exotic-food kitchens in East Asia and

animal-testing laboratories in the West.

What was normal practice for decades was soon corralled by the

awakening environmental consciousness of the 1970s, and Macaca

fascicularis was duly listed on Appendix II of the Convention on the

International Trade on Endangered Species, allowing limited trade

under strict guidelines, backed by sound knowledge of the effect of

this trade on natural populations and their ecosystems.

 

But we all know what's become of natural wildlife habitats in this

country over the past 30 years. Urban and industrial development has

pushed back forest fringes. Without a " countryside " to speak of, there

are few if any buffers between forest and human habitats, which has

allowed wild monkeys freely to invade urban areas. They are famously

adaptable animals, at home everywhere from the seashore to the

mountaintops. Urban environments are positively appealing to them,

with virtually unlimited access to abundant food. Today, a third of

the peninsula's estimated population of 742,000 long-tailed macaques

inhabit built-up areas, where they are at best pests and at worst

menaces.

 

Doing something about them is easier said than done. Trapping them for

relocation has been tried but found to have deleterious effects on the

ecosystems where they are released. Expatriated urban macaques clash

with forest-domiciled troops over territory, usually to the latter's

destruction — city monkeys are often larger and more aggressive due to

their human diets and interaction. Singapore, faced with a similar

problem, is contemplating shooting them outright and absorbing the

negative sentiments of people who might accept the culling of crows or

sewer rats but feel a greater personal affinity with monkeys. The

Natural Resources and Environment Ministry's idea of decriminalising

the export of macaques as exotic cuisine has two dubious advantages:

The trade is nothing new, having persisted illegally during the 30

years of the ban; and it can make money. The 900 macaques found penned

up in Kluang, Johor, awaiting illegal export last month were

reportedly worth some RM350,000. But the ban on macaque export was

lifted last June without any clear mechanisms in place for this

renewed animal trade. This is an obvious priority to attend to now

that the long-tailed macaque is back to being fair game.