A Kompong Chhnang province monkey farm could endanger wild macaque monkeys by encouraging wildlife hunters to catch more of them, Mak Sithirth, director of the Fisheries Action Coalition Team, an environmental NGO, said Wednesday.
Minister of Agriculture Chan Sarun issued a license to Vietcam Corporation Import Export in March to collect and buy the monkeys from areas of Pursat province near the Tonle Sap lake.
Chap Saroeun, deputy director of the Pursat provincial Agriculture Department, said the company intended to catch 300 macaque monkeys in Pursat.
He said fewer than that were captured because local villagers voiced their objections in October, putting a halt to the round-up. But the farm, located in Kompong Chhnang district’s Pha’ae commune, now has about 600 monkeys, Kompong Chhnang provincial Governor Sou Phirin said Wednesday.
Provincial officials and police inspected the farm Tuesday. Sou Phirin said officials continue to investigate the company to see if it is complying with environmental regulations.
A copy of a letter from Chan Sarun to the company shows the minister authorized the company to feed and breed the monkeys, and that the offspring would eventually be exported.
So far, no monkeys have been sold abroad, Sou Phirin said. Officials did not say for what purpose the monkeys would be exported. Chan Sarun could not be reached for comment Wednesday, as he was in Bangkok at a meeting on the regional bird flu outbreak.
In his letter, Chan Sarun wrote that the company should ensure the monkeys are living in an environment similar to their original habitat, with large cages.
