FW: Indonesia's Unethical and Illegal Primate Supply Chain Must End

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http://www.thebalitimes.com/2009/05/01/indonesia%E2%80%99s-unethical-and-illegal\

-primate-supply-chain-must-end/

 

May 01, 2009

 

*By Sarah Kite*

For The Bali Times

 

*Indonesia's ban on the export of wild-caught monkeys for research is a

sham.*

 

LONDON ~ A recent investigation carried out by the British Union for the

Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) has highlighted the role of Indonesia in

supplying non-human primates to the international research industry. It is a

trade that undoubtedly inflicts great suffering on Indonesia's macaques.

 

Moreover, it is not limited to the trade in research. A variety of primate

species are also exploited and mistreated, for the pet, entertainment and

food industries.

 

The findings of our investigation raise major concerns regarding animal

welfare and compliance with Indonesian legislation as well as the Convention

on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) regulations. The

situation becomes even more urgent because the Ministry of Forestry has

increased trapping quotas for wild-caught long-tailed macaques three-fold

from 5,100 in 2008 to an alarming 15,100 for 2009.

This figure is contrary to the known decline in macaque populations

worldwide.

 

Primate population studies represent a key tool to enable member states of

CITES to safeguard the conservation status of threatened species and, in

particular, to comply with their duties under CITES to ensure that the

export of a species will not be detrimental to the survival of that species.

 

Our investigation, however, has revealed major concerns regarding the

scientific validity and objectivity of primate population surveys carried

out in Indonesia. Of particular concern was the claim that primate companies

have funded population surveys and even accompanied scientific officials

along with representatives from the Ministry of Forestry to carry out these

surveys. Yet these are the very surveys used by the Indonesian authorities

as the basis for deciding what numbers of macaques can be taken from the

wild.

 

Our investigation has also revealed the cruelty inflicted on macaques during

their capture, transportation and confinement and the poor conditions in

which they are kept at primate supply companies. Such treatment and

conditions breached international animal welfare guidelines set by the

International Primatological Society.

 

Indonesia banned the export of wild-caught monkeys for research in 1994.

According to our findings, however, this ?ban? is a sham. Through lack of

enforcement by the Indonesian authorities and the use of misleading source

codes for CITES export permits, we believe that wild-caught monkeys continue

to be exported for the international research industry.

 

In some cases, wild-caught monkeys have simply been removed from one

location in Indonesia and placed on islands under conditions no different

from their original homes. Subsequently, wild primates who are living and

breeding freely in a natural environment are being inappropriately and

misleadingly designated as captive-born animals by the Indonesian

authorities in what appears to be an attempt to avoid the restrictions that

would otherwise be placed on the trade by CITES and by its own legislation.

 

Part of the reason long-tailed macaques are being traded in such large

numbers is because they are considered ?pests.? There are other ways of

managing the situation without resorting to export or killing. We urge

President Yudhoyono to address the underlying problem of human-monkey

conflict with compassion. Although some people believe that exporting or

killing, often the same thing, is a solution, this is not only cruel; it

fails to address the issue long-term. There are ways to control monkey

populations that are not only humane but are also more effective. These

include the relocation of monkeys and the control of their reproduction as

well as educating the public. A key element in wildlife-human conflicts is

inappropriate behaviour by people. Encouraging animals by providing a food

source, for example, reduces their innate fear of humans and encourages

conflicts.

 

Scientists often claim that it is important to use monkeys in research

because they are so much like humans. It is, however, this very fact that

makes their use completely unethical. Importantly, the scientific

appropriateness of this use is also being challenged by knowledgeable

people, including scientists, worldwide.

 

The Indonesian government must know that the monkeys it exports end up in

laboratories where pain and suffering are the routine. For example, many of

the monkeys are used in toxicity testing, which involves the forced

ingestion, inhalation or injection of potentially lethal and poisonous

chemicals. We know that in the US, some are also being used in disturbing

experiments that have involved the forced consumption of alcohol and the

surgical mutilation of female monkeys. Most of the animals are killed at the

end of the experiments; the rest may end up being used again and again or

are sold to other laboratories. This is a far cry from living freely with

their families in the jungles of Indonesia. In the past, the government of

India banned the export of its indigenous rhesus macaques after learning of

the gruesome experiments to which they were being subjected in the US. The

situation is not materially different for Indonesia's long-tailed macaques.

 

We urge President Yudhoyono to take a stand and to follow the lead of other

countries in Asia to ban the trapping, breeding and export of any macaques

for the research industry. To what extent there is the political will in

Indonesia to address the issues raised from our investigation remains to be

seen. We have at least placed these important concerns into the

international arena.

 

We hope that the government of Indonesia and CITES will respond accordingly

and carry out their own investigation into our findings.

Most importantly, we hope the people of Indonesia will take a moment to

reflect on the cruelty and brutality that is being inflicted on Indonesia's

indigenous primate populations and that they will themselves demand action

be taken by their government.

 

/The writer is director of special projects at the British Union for the

Abolition of Vivisection./

For more information on the BUAV's investigation of the trade in primates

for research from Indonesia, please visit our web site:

http://buav.org/investigations/chainofsuffering