primfocus: Japan: Wakayama officials drown 20 wild monkeys

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http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news & cat=1 & id=310871

Wakayama officials drown 20 wild monkeys

 

Thursday, September 2, 2004 at 14:34 JST

 

WAKAYAMA — About 20 wild monkeys living in and around a defunct monkey

park in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, have been drowned by local town

officials in a possible violation of the Wildlife Protection and Hunting

Law, prefectural officials said Thursday.

 

A local official said the town sought help from a licensed local hunters

association to control the monkeys but three of its employees went on to

capture and have killed the monkeys without licensed hunters since last

July following a surge in complaints by local residents that the animals

were frightening children at nurseries and eating produce.

 

Wakayama Prefecture has questioned the three officials of Shirahama town

and a member of Tsubaki hot spring tourism association and is

considering pursuing criminal charges against them, the prefectural

officials said.

 

Unlicensed hunting carries a fine of up to 1 million yen or one year

imprisonment under the wildlife protection law.

 

The four have admitted to killing the monkeys without obtaining

permission from the prefecture, as required by law, the officials said.

 

Tourism association members killed about 10 monkeys inside the park over

the past several years, while the town officials have killed nine

monkeys outside the park since July 2003. In all of the cases, monkeys

were first trapped in cages and then drowned, the prefectural officials

said.

 

" We decided to kill the monkeys on our own because feral monkeys could

harm humans, " a tourism association member was quoted as saying.

 

The park, opened in 1954, succeeded in artificially breeding wild

monkeys in 1964. The park once boasted about 330 monkeys in its

premises, but was shut down in November 2001 after monkeys began

attacking humans and the number of visitors declined.

 

Currently, about 80 monkeys are believed to live in the park's vicinity.

 

 

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http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news & cat=1 & id=310871

Wakayama officials drown 20 wild monkeys

 

Thursday, September 2, 2004 at 14:34 JST

 

WAKAYAMA — About 20 wild monkeys living in and around a defunct monkey park

in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, have been drowned by local town officials

in a possible violation of the Wildlife Protection and Hunting Law,

prefectural officials said Thursday.

 

A local official said the town sought help from a licensed local hunters

association to control the monkeys but three of its employees went on to

capture and have killed the monkeys without licensed hunters since last July

following a surge in complaints by local residents that the animals were

frightening children at nurseries and eating produce.

 

Wakayama Prefecture has questioned the three officials of Shirahama town and

a member of Tsubaki hot spring tourism association and is considering

pursuing criminal charges against them, the prefectural officials said.

 

Unlicensed hunting carries a fine of up to 1 million yen or one year

imprisonment under the wildlife protection law.

 

The four have admitted to killing the monkeys without obtaining permission

from the prefecture, as required by law, the officials said.

 

Tourism association members killed about 10 monkeys inside the park over the

past several years, while the town officials have killed nine monkeys

outside the park since July 2003. In all of the cases, monkeys were first

trapped in cages and then drowned, the prefectural officials said.

 

" We decided to kill the monkeys on our own because feral monkeys could harm

humans, " a tourism association member was quoted as saying.

 

The park, opened in 1954, succeeded in artificially breeding wild monkeys in

1964. The park once boasted about 330 monkeys in its premises, but was shut

down in November 2001 after monkeys began attacking humans and the number of

visitors declined.

 

Currently, about 80 monkeys are believed to live in the park's vicinity.