(MY) Article on Malaysian monkey trade

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http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2007/9/11/lifefocus/200709110814\

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Tuesday September 11, 2007

 

Monkey business

 

By HILARY CHIEW

 

Animal rights groups object to the trade in longtailed macaques for

fear that a cruel fate awaits the monkeys in testing facilities.

 

IN 1984, the government banned the export of long-tailed macaques

(Macaca fascicularis) amidst international outcry against the abuse

of the monkeys in bio-medical and military laboratories in the United States.

 

An international syndicate was capturing and smuggling the monkeys

primarily for US scientific testing needs. More than 300,000

long-tailed macaques from Peninsular Malaysia were exported over 25

years from 1959, until the ban was instituted.

 

Scavenger: A monkey going through garbage in search of food. Urban

monkeys are regarded as pests by some [Photo]

..

Now, it looks like the safeguard for the protected species has been

overturned. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri

Azmi Khalid announced on Aug 17 that the Cabinet had, on June 27,

decided to allow the export of long-tailed macaques captured from urban areas.

 

Azmi cited macaque attacks on humans and the failure of relocation

and sterilisation programmes as reasons for lifting the trade ban on

macaques in urban areas. He ruled out culling because " it is cruel to

shoot them " .

 

He said the public must not get emotional over the issue and

challenged animal rights groups to come up with suggestions to the

long-standing human-macaque conflict.

 

The SPCA Selangor, Malaysian Animal Assisted Therapy for Disabled

Association, Parti Keadilan Rakyat and Malaysian Association for

Responsible Pet Ownership have grouped under an umbrella body called

the Malaysian Animal Rights and Welfare Society (Roar), and submitted

a memorandum to the minister demanding the reinstatement of the ban

and a halt on all pending macaque shipments. They also lodged a

police report against Azmi and ministry officials for violating

Section 92(f) of the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972.

 

Referring to the insufferable fate that macaques undergo at

animal-testing facilities overseas, they said ministry officials were

themselves committing cruelty against wildlife. Roar conceded that if

there was a serious macaque over-population problem, sterilisation

and humane culling were better options.

 

Malaysians got a foretaste of the sickly nature of the trade when

over 1,000 longtailed macaques bound for export were uncovered in a

horrifying state in an orchard in Pontian, Johor, early July.

 

About 100 rotting carcasses were found by wildlife officers. Three

locals and an Indonesian were arrested, and Wildlife and National

Parks Department (Perhilitan) is still investigating the case.

Surviving animals were released into jungles.

 

Biological warfare

 

The International Primate Protection League (IPPL) has long

documented the cruelty in the use of non-human primates in scientific

experiments. It found wasteful experimentation, incompetence and

neglect of monkeys used for tests between 1979 and 1981, in the US

Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease at Fort

Detrick, Maryland.

 

IPPL's campaigns have led to halts in macaque trade in several

countries. IPPL chairperson Dr Shirley McGreal said the Malaysian ban

was preceded by Thailand in 1975, India in 1977 and Bangladesh in 1979.

 

Recently, IPPL was alerted to the renewed use of non-human primates

for tests, this time in Chinese laboratories. Long-tailed macaques

are being massively traded in China and most of the creatures

originate from Cambodia and Vietnam.

 

US Fish and Wildlife Services statistics reveal that 26,638 primates

were imported last year, a 44% increase over the 2004 figures of

18,534. Topping the list were long-tailed macaques (24,480).

 

Good till the last drop: A monkey enjoying a discarded canned drink [Photo]

..

" The trade escalated in 2006 when 2,532 monkeys, purportedly bred in

Cambodia, reached the US. 'IPPL has received reports on alleged

unsatisfactory conditions at these facilities and suspicions that

wild-caught monkeys are being exported on fake 'captive-born'

documents, " said McGreal.

 

There is concern that the present trade is to facilitate bio-weapon

experiments. Fresh funding for Fort Detrick is being channelled

towards the use of non-human primates for exposure to the Ebola

virus, ricin, anthrax and radio-frequency radiation, among others.

 

Being physiologically closest to humans, primates are ideal

candidates for vaccine efficacy studies.

 

McGreal said Malaysians needed to know that indigenous monkeys from

the country were likely to be sold to these labs.

 

" They will suffer horribly during the laboratory experiment. There is

no way of conducting research humanely when dealing with biological

warfare agents. "

 

As long-tailed macaque is listed on Appendix II of the Convention on

International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), Perhilitan has

produced a non-detrimental finding (NDF) to show that the trade will

not have a deleterious effect on the species' survival.

 

According to the NDF, there are 258,406 macaques in urban areas and

483,747 at forest fringes.

 

Many people are suspicious of the exact numbers of the tally, which

quite impossible to determine in the wildlife inventory. Population

estimates normally appear as a range.

 

Some questioned the motive behind the NDF exercise because Malaysia

has not produced any NDF for all the Appendix II species that it

trades in, such as the monitor lizard and reticulated python. A

wildlife trade observer said the NDF appears to be an exercise to

facilitate the issuance of Cites export permits. He expects the

findings to be challenged by the scientific and conservation communities.

 

It is learnt that the study was conducted between March and June. To

get rid of the 179,120 monkeys purportedly found in high conflict

zone in urban centres, a removal rate ranging from 20% to 90% over

five years was suggested. A 90% extraction will see only 31 monkeys

left in urban areas by the end of the plan.