Saturday November 5, 2005

Think twice before you buy or adopt a monkey, LEAH RAY writes.

THE development of forests is bringing monkeys and humans into increased contact, with the result that more simians than ever before are turning up in cages in residential areas.

“I personally do not believe people should keep monkeys (primarily long-tailed macaques) as pets,” says director of the Law and Enforcement division of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP), Misliah Mohamed Basir. Her office oversees the issuance of licences for keeping captive monkeys and other wild animals.

“I understand why people are attracted to them,” she said.

“They are cute and playful when they are babies. They remind us of humans. But when they grow up, they become strong, wilful and aggressive. Perhaps the law should be changed. The government could stop issuing new licences, except in special cases, such as the use of pig-tailed macaques for harvesting coconuts.”

She says some people dump adult animals on the DWNP but “we have no place to keep them. We send them to our rescue facility at the Malacca Zoo.” And it is a grim fate that awaits them there.

“If they send the monkeys to us, we ‘euthanise’ them,” says the zoo’s veterinary officer, Dr Choong Siew Shean.

“Monkeys are extremely difficult to rehabilitate and release back into the wild.

Monkeys live in social groups that are unlikely to accept an outsider. Even if we could retrain a captive monkey to live in the wild, when we release him, he would be attacked,” she explains.

“Our resources are limited, and long-tailed macaques are not a priority. They are so common that they are generally considered a pest. In fact, we chase the wild ones out of the zoo for concern of public safety.

“They are a health risk to humans. Not only do monkeys bite and scratch, but they can carry and pass on diseases such as hepatitis and herpes-B to humans. It is not safe to keep them in residential areas.”

Sabrina Yeap, animal investigator for the SPCA, has many heart-breaking cases to tell.

“Do you know what happens when a pet monkey outgrows its cuteness? It gets locked in a cage all day long or tied with a heavy chain. Some people don’t even give the monkey shelter from the sun and rain.

The owner ends up beating the monkey repeatedly in a futile attempt to ‘tame’ it.”

Sabrina would like to see a ban on monkeys as pets, a sanctuary for those who are confiscated from owners, and a change in public attitude. She decries the labelling of monkeys as “pests.”

“Do the monkeys move into our houses and kick us out? Do they destroy our homes? No, it’s the other way around.

“Developers push deeper and deeper into their habitat, cutting down forests to build golf courses and housing developments, and the monkeys have nowhere to go. Then people move in and say, ‘Oh, those monkeys are such pests!’ but it’s we who encroach into their homes.”

She says the solution is to make developers responsible for relocating the monkeys (and other animals).

“In Europe, they create a green passageway to another area where the animals can live, and then they use smoke to herd wildlife from the development site to their new home.

That way, they don’t have to try to catch every single monkey, snake, rabbit, whatever.”

She has an ally in Misliah.

“Personally, I would like to see the developers compelled to do an animal impact assessment similar to the Environmental Impact Assessment. It should be part of their planning and costs,” she says.