NEWS WILD Macaque export ban lifted Malaysia

[Guest guest]

Two comments re the following:

 

First, someone is figuring to make a lot of money exporting macaques.

 

Second, the pretext of exporting macaques to reduce the

population is gibberish. Removing macaques will increase the

carrying capacity of the habitat, and macaque reproduction will

accelerate to fill the void.

 

This is wildlife biology 1-A. What Seri Azmi Khalid is

suggesting, in short, amounts to farming monkeys for export on

Malaysian city streets.

 

 

 

 

BERNAMA August 17, 2007 14:36 PM

 

Ministry Lifts Ban On Export Of Monkeys

 

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 17 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has lifted the ban on the

export of long-tailed macaques, better known as long-tailed monkeys,

in an effort to reduce the population of these primates in urban

areas, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi

Khalid announced Friday.

 

" The cabinet has decided to lift the ban which was imposed in 1984 on

the capture and export of this type of monkeys. This is because we

want to reduce the number of long-tailed monkeys in urban areas.

 

" These monkeys create havoc in urban areas, not only stealing food

from houses but also attacking people, and this is a cause for worry.

The lifting of the ban is only for peninsular Malaysia and does not

cover Sabah and Sarawak, " he told a news conference at his office

here.

 

He said the ministry had done a non-detrimental study before lifting

the ban and it had been decided that only monkeys in urban areas be

caught and exported.

 

From the study, it was found that there were 258,406 long-tailed

macaques living in urban areas in peninsular Malaysia while 483,747

live in the wild in the jungles.

 

The long-tailed macaque or Macaca fascicularis, is a primarily

arboreal macaque native to Southeast Asia. Also called the Cynomolgus

Monkey, it is used extensively in medical experiments, in particular

those connected with neuroscience.

 

It has also been identified as a possible vector for Ebola virus,

monkeypox and is a known carrier of B-virus (Herpesvirus simiae).

Being " ecologically diverse " , the macaque is found in a wide variety

of habitats, including primary lowland rainforests, disturbed and

secondary rainforests, and riverine and coastal forests of nipa palm

and mangrove.

 

It easily adjusts to human settlements and can be a pest when around

farms and villages. Typically it prefers disturbed habitats and

forest periphery.

 

Azmi said the ministry had yet to decide on the mechanism to catch

these monkeys and export them and it would most likely be done

through a company.

 

" However, the Wildlife Department will be the monitoring body. We

want to make sure that long-tailed monkeys in the wild are not

disturbed. We also want to ensure that monkeys caught in urban areas

are not ill treated in the process of export. These monkeys still are

under the endangered list of animals, so we have to do this right.

 

" We do not want to be accused as cruel or abusing these primates. I'm

aware that there would be some opposition to this move, not only

locally, but also on the foreign front, " he added.

 

However, he said, it was not possible for all the long-tailed monkeys

in urban areas to be caught and exported and it was enough if only

half of them were apprehended and exported.

 

He said that although many people would be emotional with this

decision, something had to be done to control the population of these

primates in urban areas as they were becoming a menace to society.

 

The Wildlife Department had over the last 20 years tried to reduce

the number of long-tailed monkeys in urban areas through various

methods like sterilisation but none worked, he added.

 

He said rapid development of housing estates had caused these highly

adaptable monkeys to find a living in urban areas.

 

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