Monkey Business in Malaysia

Controversy surrounding the capture and export of long-tailed macaques for meat and experimentation continues. The status and scope of the ban have been described variously. What is certain, is that the fate of the monkeys who have been captured or may soon be captured will be miserable. This news article summarizes some of the key issues.

The Malaysia Star has a brand new article that is rich with facts and figures about how many monkeys are imported into the US and how many may be subject to capture, sale and misery if it is not possible to negotiate on alternative approaches such as community education, sterilization and other options. Dr. Shirley McGreal, Founder and Chairwoman of the International Primate Protection League cuts right to the chase when talking about the suffering monkeys endure in experimentation. And given the numbers reported, it could happen on an enormous scale.

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.

These figures represent more than 10 and 20 times respectively of the total number of monkeys imported into the US in 2006.

Full text of the article Monkey Business.

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