Sri Lanka to send 100,000 monkeys to China

Sri Lanka confirmed on Thursday China’s request to export one lakh endangered monkeys from the cash-strapped island nation.

Gunadasa Samarasinghe, the top bureaucrat in Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Agriculture noted: “We will not send the whole 1,00,000 in one lot. But we considered the request due to crop damages caused by the monkeys in several parts of the country. They will not be taken from conserved areas. The focus will be only in the cultivation areas.”

The monkeys belong to the toque macaque breed and they are considered endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list.

Zoologists and animal activists decried the Sri Lankan government’s proposal on April 19 to export of monkeys to China.

According to sources, the deal comes in spite of Sri Lanka’s ban on all live animal exports. However, the country is currently facing its worst economic situation.

The country’s Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera confirmed last week that it could approve China’s request for 1,00,000 monkeys to be exhibited at over 1,000 Chinese zoos.