Malaysia: Uproar over macaque culling

R.S.N. Murali The Star 18 Mar 13;

MALACCA: The culling of almost 100,000 long-tailed macaques last year by the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) has turned into a controversy, with the decision being challenged here.

Kota Melaka MCA complaint bureau deputy chief Dr Yee Kok Wah said he found out that Johor topped the list with 20,600 of the primates culled, followed by Selangor (18,800), Perak (16,000), Kedah (13,000), Pahang (8,100) and Negri Sembilan (8,000).

The total number culled last year was 97,200, up from 87,900 in 2011.

“The primates should not have been exterminated as they were not diseased.

“We need to create a colony for them so that the monkeys can be relocated.

“We have a moral responsibility to look after the primates.

“They will not pose a danger to humans if they are relocated to the jungle,'' he told The Star.

Dr Yee said Kyoto University's Juichi Yamagiwa, who is president of the International Primatological Society, had found that the transmission of virus between humans and macaques was very rare.

“As such, the mass culling of macaques here should be stopped.

“The primates are being driven to extinction,'' he added.

Dr Yee said there was a report saying that captured wild macaques from Malaysia had ended up on dinner plates in China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, or in research laboratories.

Long-tailed macaques are native to Malaysia and considered opportunistic feeders, and can adapt well to the urban environment.

A Perhilitan official, when contacted, explained that the primates were exterminated through an internationally accepted culling method to control “a population that far exceeded the proportionate capacity of its habitat”.

He said the culling, conducted by trained game rangers, was carried out where human-macaque conflicts were most serious.

He denied that the macaques were killed by deliberate drowning as alleged by some quarters, adding that standard operating procedures were adhered to.

There’s no need to cull macaques, says expert
The Star 19 Mar 13;

PETALING JAYA: Culling is not the answer to resolving human-macaque conflicts in Malaysia, said an expert.

Wildlife veterinarian Dr Sharmini Paramasivam said humans had invaded the monkeys’ habitat.

“Studies have shown that effective waste management and sterilisation reduces the size of the population.”

The wildlife veterinarian said it was unfair to blame monkeys for going into housing areas and rummaging through rubbish bins.

“We should first look at how residential areas are being planned.”

The Star reported yesterday that almost 100,000 long-tailed macaques had been culled last year by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan).

A Perhilitan official had explained that the primates were exterminated through an internationally-accepted culling method to control their population, which “far exceeded the proportionate capacity of its habitat”. He said culling had been carried out where human-macaque conflicts were most serious.

Dr Sharmini was involved in running a macaque conflict management project in Indonesia and has worked with the monkeys for a few years.

She said conflict management included studying the macaque population and their behavioural patterns, as well as conducting education programmes for those living in conflict areas.

“Malaysia should set an example on the best way to deal with wildlife conflict. Understanding the cause of the conflict is key in successful conflict management,” she stressed.