Indonesian villagers allowed to kill long-tail monkeys

Antara 13 Feb 10;

Banda Aceh (ANTARA News) - Villagers in Aceh are now allowed to kill long-tail monkeys (Macaca Fascicularis) because the apes often enter and hide in their homes.

"If villagers think the animals` disturb the peace, they may kill the apes becauses they are not a protected species," the head of the province`s Nature Resource Conservation (BKSDA), Abubakar Chekmat, said here on Saturday.

He said tens of long tail monkeys now often emerged in a number of residential areas in Banda Aceh city such as in Lampriet and Beurawe.

"According to information they were pets of some villagers before the tsunami disaster occured in 2004. After the disaster their owners might have gone and therefore the
monkeys have turned wild," he said.

The villagers particularly children have indeed been worried about the presence of the animal."So if they are considered disturbing it is alright to kill them," he said.

Some villagers in Beurawe said they had been disturbed by the presence of three long tail monkeys in their residential area in the past two weeks.

"We feel not peaceful because of their presence. We fear they will bite children. The animals have even shown no fear of people," he said," Sulaiman, a resident of Beurawe, said.

Villagers hoped BKSDA would catch the animal. "We are hope for an immediate handling of the problem by the office concerned to assure safety and peace," Burhanuddin, another villager of Beurawe, said.
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