Taiwanese macaques threaten Japanese monkeys

[Guest guest]

(Actually, the prime threat to Japanese macaques are

humans. It is estimated that there are approximately

50,000 to 100,000 Japanese macaques in Japan now, of

which almost 10,000 are culled with various inhumane

methods (e.g., left to die of starvation,

drowing)every year. For the local farmers, it doesn't

really matter whether the monkey is a Taiwanese or

Japanese when they see one stealing their crop.)

 

Taiwanese macaques threaten Japanese monkeys

 

Yomiuri Shimbun, 04 Sep 2001

Masaru Fujita Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

 

Researchers in Japan are concerned that the

crossbreeding of macaque monkeys from Taiwan and Japan

may eventually lead to the extinction of the Japanese

species.

 

About 40 years ago, more than 10 Taiwanese monkeys

escaped from a zoological garden in hills extending

between Wakayama and Kainan, Wakayama Prefecture,

following the closure of the facility.

 

Today, a group of about 200 Taiwanese monkeys and

crossbred monkeys lives in the hills. The combination

of the area's mild climate and the plentiful supply of

food sources, such as bayberries, has helped the

monkeys to thrive.

 

The tail of a Taiwanese macaque measures about 40

centimeters, while a Japanese monkey's measures about

10 centimeters. But the tails of some monkeys living

in the hills are half as long as those of their

parents, leading researchers to suspect that the

Taiwanese monkeys have crossbred with the Japanese

monkeys. Gene analysis later confirmed the

crossbreeding of the two species.

 

Prior to the escape, the hills near the zoological

garden had not been inhabited by wild monkeys. The

presence of the monkeys and the increase in their

numbers has created a serious problem of crop damage.

According to the Wakayama prefectural government, crop

damage totaled about 15 million yen last year.

 

" They eat all of our crops, like black soybeans,

watermelons, shiitake mushrooms and mikan oranges, "

said Yasuharu Kihara, a 53-year-old farmer in Kainan.

 

Since the gene analysis of the monkeys, studies of the

species from Taiwan have been conducted. The

prefectural government decided in autumn last year to

cull the Taiwanese and crossbred monkeys to prevent

the local ecosystem from damage.

 

Although animal rights groups protested against the

decision, the Primate Society of Japan and the

Ecological Society of Japan urged the government to

carry out the cull as soon as possible.

 

Researchers are concerned about the presence of the

Taiwanese and crossbred monkeys because of their

proximity to groups of Japanese monkeys inhabiting

both the Kii Peninsula in the prefecture and the

central part of Honshu. If the area inhabited by

Taiwanese monkeys and crossbred monkeys increases,

purebred Japanese monkeys might be wiped out in many

areas.

 

Another area with a population of nonindigenous

monkeys is the southernmost area of the Boso Peninsula

in Chiba Prefecture. About 100 Rhesus monkeys live in

the area, but it is not clear how they got there.

 

According to Keigo Aizawa, a teacher at Awa Minami

High School in Tateyama in the prefecture, Japanese

monkeys have yet to have any sustained contact with

the Rhesus monkeys. But he is afraid that some

crossbreeding may have already taken place.

 

Meanwhile, Japanese monkeys inhabiting the Shimokita

Peninsula in Aomori Prefecture have been designated as

the world's northernmost group of monkeys.

 

But in this area too, there are concerns about

crossbreeding. About 60 Taiwanese monkeys live in a

fenced site on a mountain close to the area inhabited

by Japanese monkeys in the prefecture.

 

===

 

Alien species cause havoc

 

Nonindigenous species brought to foreign areas can

cause substantial damage to local ecosystems,

including the following:

 

k Black bass feeding on indigenous fish, affecting

their stocks

 

k Foreign varieties of dandelions wiping out native

dandelions.

 

k Raccoons damaging agricultural crops.

 

In New Zealand, the agricultural damage caused by

nonindigenous animals is equal to 1 percent of its

gross domestic product.

 

The Conference of the Parties of the Convention on

Biological Diversities and the World Conservation

Union suggested in guidelines they compiled that

nonindigenous species should not be introduced into

other ecosystems. They also recommended that if such

species were discovered, they should be exterminated

as soon as possible. The Environment Ministry is

currently compiling guidelines to address the issue.

 

It might appear unreasonable to cull a species after

they have been transported to a different area by

humans. But Michiko Kawamichi, zoologist from the

Invasive Alien Species Specialist Group of the union,

said: " There was a case of one species of

nonindigenous fish driving out several hundreds of

species of native fish. We have to keep the current

ecosystem as it is, and hand it down to the next

generation. " She added, " We should correct the

tendency of releasing unhappy animals (into the wild)

and to allow the easy importation of animals as pets. "

 

 

Copyright The Yomiuri Shimbun

 

 

 

 

 

 

Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Messenger

http://im.