Colombo: Sri Lanka Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera on Thursday said that several countries have requested Sri Lanka to export Toque macaque monkeys after China’s request in April gained great exposure in international media.
Addressing the Parliament, the Minister said, “As the request from the Chinese firm ended in turmoil and a court case, the other foreign firms have been requested to make an official request via their respective Embassies in Sri Lanka for this purpose”.
In April, a private firm in China had requested 1,00,000 monkeys, a set of animals that had become a menace to the island's agricultural activities.
“They requested 1,00,000 monkeys, and the request was also for the immediate exportation of 2,000 monkeys within a month. Several discussions were conducted in this regard. The final discussion saw the representation of Wildlife Department officials and the Chinese firm,” the minister said.
Sri Lanka government had agreed to the request but there was strong opposition from the environmental and animal rights activists and it ended up in courts.
The government had agreed to export monkeys as a measure to control the damage caused to the crops which was estimated at Rs 20 billion (nearly $62 million) a year.
However, 30 parties, including animal and wildlife protection organisations, had complained to the Supreme Court against the government's export decision.
Some activists had feared that the monkeys would be used for meat while others claimed that monkeys would be used for medical research.
Amid the protests, in June, the government dropped the idea to export monkeys to China.
Earlier in February, Amaraweera also had announced that there were six crop-ravaging animals namely peacocks, toque macaques, grizzled giant squirrels, porcupines, and wild boars and they were removed from the list of protected animals in Sri Lanka meaning that they could be killed.