Malaysia lifts ban on monkey trading
Natural Resources & Environment Minister Azmi Kalid said only monkeys in urban area could be caught and exported.
By Agencies |
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia on Friday said it has lifted a 23-year ban on the export of long-tailed macaque because their population has grown to be an urban nuisance.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Azmi Kalid said only monkeys in urban area could be caught and exported.
"The cabinet has decided to lift the ban which was imposed in 1984 on the capture and export of this type of monkeys," Azmi said.
"This is because we want to reduce the number of long-tailed monkeys in urban areas," adding that they often "create havoc" there and attack people and steal food.
The lifting of the ban however is only in mainland Malaysia and does not cover Sabah and Sarawak, he said.
Azmi said a study by his office found there were more than 2,58,000 macaques living in urban areas in the mainland and nearly 4,84,000 in the wild.
Meanwhile, the New Straits Times newspaper reported that the government was in negotiations on possibly exporting the primates to Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
As many as 10,000 of these macaques were exported each year in the 1970s, mainly for laboratory research in the United States and Europe and to other countries as exotic food or pets.
The trade led to a drop in the macaque population and subsequently forced the government to impose the ban in the mid-1980s.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Azmi Kalid said only monkeys in urban area could be caught and exported.
"The cabinet has decided to lift the ban which was imposed in 1984 on the capture and export of this type of monkeys," Azmi said.
"This is because we want to reduce the number of long-tailed monkeys in urban areas," adding that they often "create havoc" there and attack people and steal food.
The lifting of the ban however is only in mainland Malaysia and does not cover Sabah and Sarawak, he said.
Azmi said a study by his office found there were more than 2,58,000 macaques living in urban areas in the mainland and nearly 4,84,000 in the wild.
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Meanwhile, the New Straits Times newspaper reported that the government was in negotiations on possibly exporting the primates to Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
As many as 10,000 of these macaques were exported each year in the 1970s, mainly for laboratory research in the United States and Europe and to other countries as exotic food or pets.
The trade led to a drop in the macaque population and subsequently forced the government to impose the ban in the mid-1980s.
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