The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka has issued a clarification on the recent media reports claiming Sri Lanka was considering exporting nearly 100,000 toque macaque monkeys to China.
The Embassy said in a statement that it has noticed recent disinformation on local and foreign media about Sri Lanka exporting “100 thousand” “endangered” toque macaque monkeys to a Chinese private company for “experimental purpose”, as well as detailed clarifications by the Minister of Agriculture and the Cabinet Spokesperson of Sri Lanka thereafter.
The Embassy said it has also checked with relevant authorities in Beijing, adding that the Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the main government department supervising and managing the import and export of wild animals and plants, has clearly clarified that it is not aware of the request and has not received such an application from any side.
The Chinese Embassy further stated that it would like to stress that as a contracting party of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), China has already adopted its Wildlife Protection Law in 1988 with several amendments afterwards.
The Chinese government always attaches great importance to wildlife protection and actively fulfils international obligations, which makes China one of the top countries in the world in terms of wildlife protection legislation and law enforcement, it added.
The Chinese Embassy’s clarification comes after it was reported that Chinese Zoo Company, Zhejiang Wuyu Animal Breeding Co. Limited had made a written request from Sri Lanka’s Agriculture Ministry to export crop-damaging monkeys to be placed in their zoos for exhibition purposes.
In a letter addressed to the Agriculture Ministry, seen by NewsWire, the Chinese firm said it has made the offer based on reports that Sri Lanka was looking to get rid of certain crop-destroying species.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardena said the government has not held any discussion on exporting Toque monkeys to China.
Minister Gunawardena told the media yesterday (18) that the proposal had been made along with several other proposals provided by various parties pertaining to the imports and exports of Sri Lanka.
He further said that thereby, Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera made a proposal to export crop-destroying monkeys to 1000 Zoos operated by a private firm in China, adding that a committee has been appointed to address the matter. (NewsWire)