Environmentalists concerned over request by China for monkeys from Sri Lanka

Environmentalists are skeptical about the move of exporting 100,000 Toque Macaque monkeys to Chinese zoological gardens as a solution to the rising monkey population in Sri Lanka.

Senior Advisor of Centre for Environmental Justice Mr. Hemantha Vithanage told Timesonline that human-wildlife conflict always increases because without sufficient natural habitat owing to human and political contributions to habitat destruction, these species come into contact with humans and are often killed and captured.

He said that translocating 100,000 monkeys remain dubious as monkey meat has traditionally has been reviewed as a prized delicacy in Chinese cuisine which leave all environmentalists with the question of an ulterior motive making this step unfeasible.  

He also highlighted the country’s monkey population crossed 3 million and all efforts taken by the authorities to control the monkey population had been unsuccessful.

“It’s a man-made problem. Human-wildlife conflicts are becoming more frequent, serious and widespread as human populations grow and habitats are lost. This can lead to conflicts between groups of people over how to resolve the situation as a short-term solution. Regenerating the forest areas should be taken into account in favour of a durable solution,” Mr. Vithanage  added.

He said that Sri Lanka’s Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera has currently appointed a committee including professionals together with the civil society subjected to cabinet approval to explore the legal standing of exporting Toque Macaque monkeys to another country.  

 “Reality is that people are not the owners of biodiversity. As environmentalists we have already submitted multiple strategic proposals months ago urging the authorities to resolve the pressing issue for which no notice was taken. Transparency, participation of people and law are the three main components that need to be given heed to at large.” Mr. Vithanage said.