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The
island's agriculture minister has appointed a committee to
evaluate the proposal to export 100,000 toque macaques, found
only in Sri Lanka, to be displayed in zoos in China, Cabinet
Spokesperson and Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardana said.
"This is not a discussion between the Sri Lankan government and
the Chinese government but with a Chinese company," Gunawardana
told reporters at a weekly briefing, without naming the company.
"The committee will evaluate the proposal."
The move has alarmed environmentalists and conservationists who
have warned the monkeys could be headed to labs rather than
zoos, even if it earns some scarce dollars for the country
facing its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades.
The organisations say China has only about 18 zoos, which would
have to house about 5,000 monkeys at each.
"Macaques, with their human-like qualities have been
particularly popular, especially with medical testing facilities
in the USA and Europe. The potential income from such a trade
would be far greater than that from the sale of this species to
zoos," four conservation organisations said in a joint
statement. "Is this where these macaques are headed?"
They demanded the proposal be discarded and toque macaque
habitats be protected. They also want the government to allocate
resources to study the monkeys' behaviour and reduce harvest
losses, which is a reason cited by the agriculture ministry to
consider capturing and exporting the animals.
(Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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