(JP) Rogue dealers sell wild monkeys to labs

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http://www.asahi.com/english/asahi/1225/asahi122504.html

 

Asahi Shimbun

December 25, 2000

 

Japanese monkeys captured as pests by companies

working for local authorities are being illegally bred

and sold for research, an Asahi Shimbun investigation

has found.

 

Under the Law Concerning Protection of Wildlife and

Game, the breeding, delivery or receipt of Japanese

monkeys without a prefectural government license is

prohibited.

 

However, the investigation-the first to reveal the

illegal supply route of monkeys for research-found

that companies in Kumamoto and Gifu prefectures

assigned by local authorities to capture Japanese

monkey ``pests,'' have then been breeding them without

permission.

 

Among their customers, the investigation revealed,

were a number of universities and research facilities,

including Osaka and Kanazawa universities, who have

bought monkeys for research.

 

The investigation found that a company in Kugino,

Kumamoto Prefecture, had about 130 monkeys crammed

into small cages on its premises. There were also

bodies of dead monkeys on the company's property.

 

According to sources involved, that company had been

authorized by various local authorities to capture the

monkeys to prevent them damaging crops-receiving

between 20,000-30,000 yen for each animal. The company

has then been selling the monkeys and their offspring

for research, at between 150,000 and 200,000 yen

each-which is less than half the price of legally bred

Japanese monkeys, the sources said.

 

The company stated that it needed to sell more than

100 monkeys a year to return a profit, and that its

annual turnover is in the tens of millions of yen,

they said.

 

Meanwhile, the company in Ijira, Gifu Prefecture, is

currently breeding about 50 monkeys without the

appropriate license, having received its stocks free

after the animals were captured by local authorities

in Gifu and Mie prefectures. The company then sells

its monkeys for research through animal dealers to

universities and research facilities.

 

The investigation revealed that among the factors

fueling this illegal trade in Japanese monkeys is the

fact that some prefectures would not issue licenses

for monkeys captured as pests to be bred for

experimental purposes. In addition, authorized

breeding facilities would have to be maintained to

certain standards; and if a license was obtained, an

annual renewal fee of more than 3,000 yen per monkey

would have to be paid.

 

However, it appears dozens of research institutions,

mostly in Kanto or Kansai, have purchased Japanese

monkeys from the companies which were operating

illegally.

 

The monkeys have been used for research into a number

of areas, including neurosurgery, surgery, dentistry

and ophthalmology.

 

Commenting on the findings of the investigation, the

Environment Agency said it is treating the matter

seriously, as using and distributing for profit

wildlife which had been captured for pest-eradication

purposes was likely to lead to unnecessary and illegal

capture.

 

Both Gifu and Kumamoto prefectural authorities

indicated they will speedily conduct investigations

into the activities of the companies engaged in the

illegal breeding and distribution of the Japanese

monkeys.

 

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