Sri Lanka selling 100,000 monkeys to China– The Minister of Agriculture said on Wednesday that Sri Lanka, which is in financial crisis, is considering exporting up to 100,000 endangered monkeys to China.
The endangered short-tailed macaque (Tok macaque) is an abundant monkey in Sri Lanka, but is classified as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Sri Lanka has banned the export of almost all live animals. The Asian country, which is facing its worst economic crisis since independence, said the proposed sale would contribute to the weak economy. Although the sale proposal has been made public, the financial details of how much the monkey will be charged have not been provided.
“They want monkeys for over 1,000 zoos in China,” Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amarweera told AFP. “I have formed a committee to study the request and see how we can do it.”
Monkeys damage agricultural crops and because of their large numbers, monkeys are considered as the enemy of farmers in Sri Lanka. They destroy crops in search of food, attack villages and sometimes even attack humans.
Sri Lanka this year removed all three species of monkeys from the protected list, as well as several species including peacocks and wild boars.
Sri Lanka’s animal rights group, the Environmental Foundation, has criticized the proposed sale, saying there has not been a nationwide survey of monkeys (macaques) for more than 40 years and that a proper population study is needed first.
Jagat Gunawardena of the foundation told reporters in Colombo, “We are curious as to why they (the Chinese) want so many monkeys for meat, medical research or any other purpose or for any other reason.”
He further added, “Monkeys are not a protected species in Sri Lanka, but are included in the international endangered species list.”
There was no immediate response from IUCN.
According to the statistics of the Sri Lankan government, the number of ‘tock macaques’ is estimated to be between 2 million and 3 million.
According to Gunawardhan, one of the reasons for the increase in conflict between humans and animals, including monkeys and elephants, is the expansion of agriculture.
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