Recently, animal rights activists staged a protest against the Sri Lankan authorities’ plan to export 100,000 endangered toque macaque monkeys to China. This specie is not a protected native animal to Sri Lanka and was included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Conservationists and animal rights activists fear that the monkeys would be used in labs for animal testing instead of being released in Chinese zoos, Voice of America reported.
Sri Lankan Agriculture Minister Amaraweera said the government views the 3 million toque macaques in the country as a menace due to their destruction of local crops. Furthermore, the four conservation groups Wildlife and Nature Protection Society, Center for Environmental Justice, Federation of Environmental Organizations, and Rally for Animal Rights and Environment Sri Lanka, released a statement claiming that there merely 18 Chinese zoos that meet global criteria, failing to believe that the zoos will be able to hold the 100k monkeys.
The Chinese request for the toque macaques came through a Chinese company called Zhejiang Wuyu Animal Breeding Co. Ltd. However, the request has yet to be met with a response from the Chinese company. In response to the claims, the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka tweeted a statement, clarifying that the National Forestry and Grassland Administration had knowledge of the application and has yet to receive it.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is joined by China, and the nation has actively implemented the Wildlife Protection Law since 1988 as part of its commitment to wildlife protection.
Zhejiang Wuyu Animal Breeding Co. Ltd, is a Chinese company that has requested for 100,000 endangered toque macaque monkeys from the Sri Lankan authorities. Founded in the year 2000 in China, the company is dedicated to the protection and conservation of animal welfare. The ultimate mission of the company is breeding and trading in wild animal products. It is committed to raising, breeding and domesticating animals under strict control and supervision and offers customers a wide range of services, including safe and high-quality livestock.
The professor of the University of Colombo,Dumindra Ratnayaka, who is also the director of the Sri Lanka-based organization Center for Environmental Justice (CEJ), is one of the notable people responsible for leading the efforts to oppose the plan to export 100,000 monkeys. He has expressed his dismay at the current situation and has urged the government to put a stop to the proposal in order to protect the country’s endangered wildlife. The conservationists have requested the government to consider alternatives such as releasing the monkeys in the Wilpattu National Park or creating a Toque Macaque sanctuary.
