The letter stated Cambodias six operational monkey farms had a total stock of nearly 56,000 macaques in 2014, a year when the Kingdom exported barely 5,000. These are establishments where local people rent out rooms in their homes to paying guests with breakfast included. The findings were the culmination of a 10-year investigation which started in 2010. They can also be found in northeastern India, southern China, northern Thailand, and parts of Indochina. The backbone of the convention is apermit system, which confirms that rules regarding animal welfare and breeding requirements, among others, are followed. Come see the world with me! I so want to go to Cambodia and meet those macaques. But the nearly 50-year-old system is infamous for legal loopholes and data deficiencies. Government officials have steadfastly denied the corruption charges. Honda Monkey 125cc 2022 price $3650 in Stueng Mean chey 1, Mean Chey The database rarely specifies the part of the macaque. According to CITES trade data, Italy imported the largest quantity of nearly 41,000 specimens in two massive shipments in 2020 and 2021. The database rarely specifies the part of the macaque. She and the baby monkey were so cute and this scene was so typical of the area that I took a picture and gave the monkey a little piece of fruit I had with me. Alleged corruption in Cambodia's monkey farms taints global wildlife In the morning we were anxious to head back to Angkor Wat but when we left the house we saw two huge Cambodian monkeys blocking our entrance to the road. I swear I am not making this up. Aggressive macaques removed from Angkor Archaeological Park, Hun Sen honoured as patron of Buddhist fellowship, PM offers appreciation to workers on Intl Labour Day, Japan plans fireworks display to celebrate ties anniversary, Westerdams return a symbol of Kingdoms care for, Kantha Bopha treats over 70,000 kids in Apr, PM warns extremists who threaten election process, Manet praises medics for Covid-19 sacrifices, Third round of ministry, NGO consultative meetings May 3. The video was captioned with unverified claims of blood on the floor of a cage and that one of the macaques had been killed. According to Pheaktra, there are a small number of stump-tailed macaques to the west of the Mekong River and a moderate number to the east of the rivers in Cambodia. But there is really no difference between the two trades. U.S. federal court documents allege this international wildlife smuggling ring used the legal trade of captive-bred monkeys to launder thousands of wild-caught monkeys into U.S. laboratories over at least four years. Some of the must see include Ta Prohm, where Tomb Raider was filmed, Banteays Srei and Kdei and Bayon. BTW, if you are getting ready for your trip, make sure to take advantage of these useful,money-saving linksto book your trip: I personally use, and can recommend, all the companies listed here and elsewhere on my blog. In 2014, the CITES Management Authority in Cambodia submitted a letter to the CITES Secretariat, which is one of the only public documents with information about the then six breeding facilities in the Kingdom. The donation was made a month before the Kingdoms general elections which following the dissolution of a main opposition party in 2017 fell firmly into the hands of Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose 37-year rule of Cambodia has made him the longest-serving prime minister in Southeast Asia. And if its not real, then they are doing something quite questionable, said Regina Warne, lead author of the study. Similar requests fromSoutheast Asia Globeabout past investigations into the governments role inmacaque breeding,forest developmentsandreforestation initiativeshave been ignored. The company, Inotiv, tells Science that while we do not yet know if these allegations will be proven true, Inotiv strongly condemns any and all unauthorized trading/importation of endangered species. Wildlife can be laundered from illegally obtained wild animals into legal captive bred animals in the countries of origin, which complicates enforcement. Cambodia now exports the largest share of cynosmore than 29,000 in 2020, the vast majority of which were shipped to the United States. Your email address will not be published. They spend a lot of time in tall trees, jumping from branch to branch in the morning. Germain's Silver Langur "Monkeys In Cambodia 2020" - YouTube Covid showed us that if you have an emerging disease occur in a country, like Cambodia, the chance of this spreading around the world is very high.. Cindy Buckmaster, a spokesperson for Americans for Medical Progress, which advocates for the use of animals in scientific studies, says theres not much that companies like Inotivor the labs they sell tocan do to check the provenance of the animals they receive. Largest monkey farm in Cambodia meets demands for monkey specimens and live animals for years before being charged for wildlife trafficking. There are knock-on consequences for any trade involving the U.S. and its import and export of macaques for research.. (202) 332-0982 The farm exported more than 40,700 live macaques to the U.S. from 2020 to 2022, according to data published by the head of Cambodias Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. And theyre prone to stress just from being around people for the first time, which could result in very different data., Last week, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals asked CDC to suspend all nonhuman primate exports from Cambodia. Besides the ecological impacts to the dwindling number of wild monkeys, veterinary scientists say mixing poached animals with the farmed population could pose a global public health risk by potentially exporting diseases to foreign labs. The species, Macaca arctoides, is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. But its unclear how large that profit margin is. Thailand city mass sterilizes hungry monkeys disturbing locals You cant stay in the actual complex. The United States is a leader in the global fight against the illicit trade in wildlife and views the trafficking of protected wildlife as a threat to good governance and rule of law while destabilising our environment, wrote Stephanie Arzate, a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh. They had actually been stalking us. A Khmer version of this story can be found onFocus Ready For TomorrowandSoutheast Asia Globe. For an unknowable number of these potentially trafficked animals, or at least bits and pieces of them, the U.S. was just a layover. When you think of Cambodia you think of the temples of Angkor Wat but you dont think of a monkey attack! Pheaktra went on to say that the pig-tailed macaque is on the International Union for Conservation of Natures (IUCN) Red List of threatened species. Hes one of eight charged as part of an international primate smuggling ring, which includes the director general of Cambodias Forestry Administration, as well as the owner, general manager and four employees of primate supplier Vanny Resources and Bio Research, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Bring these reference companions along with you. Flashing neon lights are everywhere advertising luxury hotels, elaborate shows, and sumptuous buffets. Donate any amounttoday to become a Pulitzer Center Champion and receive exclusive benefits! As Cambodia leads the global macaque market, the depth of the allegations against its government and largest monkey farm have cast doubt over the entire trade. The companies running the facilities are not named in the indictment, but in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week, Inotiv disclosed that its principal supplier of nonhuman primates was the target of the DOJ probe, indicating that the company gets most of its monkeys from Vanny. Monkey Shelter Cambodia - Home | Facebook Indictments were also issued against six Vanny Resources and Bio Research employees: founder and owner James Man Sang Lau, general manager Dickson Lau, deputy general manager Sunny Chan, export manager Raphael Cheung Man, finance officer Sarah Yeung and manager of the Cambodia facilities Hing Ip Chung. The environment ministry applauds and appreciates all parties collaborative efforts to protect and conserve these rare and endangered pileated gibbons. Thats because labs there routinely dissected Cambodian macaques to re-export hundreds of shipments of dismembered body parts to Canada and across Europe. The monkey was later killed by local authorities who feared it might attack again. Get more great content like this delivered right to you! 'Nuisance monkeys' relocated from temples to zoo to protect tourists AUnited Nations-managed trade databasehas recorded the export of more than 100,000 macaques, listed as live or specimens, from Cambodia to the U.S. in the following two decades. This is all a for-profit trade. The prevalence and profit of the live trade often overshadows the specimen market, which lengthens the supply chain for Cambodian monkeys. Knowingly or not, the labs re-exporting these specimens could be further laundering macaques poached from the wild in Cambodia, enabling importers to look past the Kingdoms alleged corruption. This should raise alarm bells. Known trade of long-tailed macaques from Cambodia (2004-2020) Data annually submitted to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, tracked the steady rise of Cambodia's contributions to the monkey trade since the early 2000s. Indictment of monkey importers could disrupt U.S. drug and vaccine There are approximately 1,700 pig-tailed macaques in China, and approximately 1,500 in India. Enter your email address below to receive travels tips and free guides to exciting destinations. His superior, Forestry Administration Director General Omaliss Keo, was also charged in the indictment but remains free in Cambodia. Preap Socheat, a specialist from the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre in Takeo provinces Bati district who took part in the removal of the macaques at the Angkor Archaeological Park, told The Post on Sunday that more than 20 of them were relocated. Your support ensures great journalism and education on underreported and systemic global issues, 1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Please make a tax-deductible gift today. It is important to build that whole picture and drive home how significant this issue is.. But the nearly 50-year-old system is infamous for legal loopholes and data deficiencies. This was not cute anymore. An indictment in U.S. law is considered an accusation and defendants are innocent unless proven guilty. The ride into Siem Reap is surprising. More than 100 wild monkeys caged in plastic carriers were seized off a pickup truck in Prachinburi province. We had opted for a direct flight from Ho Chi Minh City, the last leg of a long journey through Vietnam by train, boat, bus, car, foot and tuk-tuk, the ubiquitous southeast Asian rickshaw. We need to migrate away from shipping an animal from halfway around the world, where we cant control where it came from., But the community also needs to focus more on reducing the number of monkeys it uses, he says. "There is no exact number of stump-tailed macaques in the world." Yeah, right. Based on these numbers, the researchers calculated the farms would have needed to breed almost double their stock to about 103,000 macaques to support the roughly 33,000 exported in 2020. They are typically bred in large facilities in Asia. As we readied ourselves a monkey came from behind, jumped on my back and tore off my hair beret while another grabbed at my backpack which contained fruit. These can be hit or miss but Ive found most to be clean, comfortable and centrally located which is really all you need. Thats because labs there routinely dissected Cambodian macaques to re-export hundreds of shipments of dismembered body parts to Canada and across Europe. Youve got the same impact potentially as in the live trade.. All Rights Reserved. The only difference is that the stump-tailed macaque is larger and has a bright pink or red face than the Macaca leonina. That was a while ago. (Rhesus macaques, another heavily used monkey species in U.S. biomedical research, are mostly used by the academic community, which largely obtains them from national primate research centers.) The ANA noted that operations to capture nuisance monkeys at the temple and relocate them happened almost every year because they become accustomed to people, especially if they are fed. The animals were reportedly captured from the wild in Cambodia and falsely labeled as captive-bred. A significant sum when compared to Cambodias recently-raised minimum wage of $200 a month for garment workers, a major industry in the Kingdom. Ive seen them steal glasses! While controls may be unchanged, talk of the indictment or Cambodias monkey industry as a whole has become taboo among wildlife conservationists. Taking the time, even though the mind boggles at doing these calculations, to arrive at a feasible number gives us that backing, Warne said. FACEBOOK. Cambodian Officials Charged with Wildlife Trafficking, a 'Wake-Up Call According to Ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra, the number of rare pig-tailed macaques in the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Mondulkiri province has increased to over 2,000 in the last ten years, despite the fact that their global population has decreased. The ANA said some of the wild monkeys had become too accustomed to receiving food from tourists and other people and this had effectively domesticated them, turning them into animals more akin to pets, but not entirely given their frequent habits of stealing food and biting people. How the race for a Covid vaccine enriched monkey poachers and We need to consider what species are actually making the world go round, which species are helping to conserve, preserve and regenerate natural areas.. We decided to walk straight through them making a lot of noise and waving our arms. In November, six employees were indicted for wildlife trafficking. Its unclear how many of the animals in question have been used in research, but one of two companies that received them is the largest private supplier of monkeys to U.S. research labs, Science has learned. But nothing like what really happened. Everything else is beyond our control., Still, she calls the alleged illegal import of cynos horrible for the animals, and a violation of the trust both the scientific community and the public put in animal research. And if its not real, then they are doing something quite questionable, said Regina Warne, lead author of the study. The alleged smuggling ring is part of a global, billion-dollar wildlife trade industry, which in Cambodia has long been under suspicion oftrafficking wild macaquesthrough the legal trade of captive-bred monkeys.Bribes for ministry officials reached tens of thousands of dollars over the years, indicated a U.S. court document, which also noted a hefty donation from Vanny Bio Research to Cambodias ruling political party at the request of the now-indicted director general. Alarm bells have been ringing globally since 2008, when conservationists warned that long-tailed macaque populations were declining, yet the monkey remained a species of least concern until 2020, when the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, listed it as vulnerable. In July, the macaque was uplisted from vulnerable to endangered on theRed List of Threatened Species, which listed biological use as primary main threat. Alongside these legal concerns, Chaber also points to the risks that mixing wild-caught and captive-bred monkeys could have on global health. As a country, Cambodia traded more than 33,000 live macaques in 2020, more than half of the recorded global macaque trade that year. They arent stupid. 'Endangered' monkeys found in Mondulkiri | Phnom Penh Post While Cambodia has farmed macaques for years with the first shipment exported to the U.S. in 2005 the Kingdom cornered the market during the pandemic. But vicious and aggressive ones pose a risk to humans. To confirm our screening processes are (and were) solid, we have plans in place to conduct the necessary audits to ensure excellence and provide transparency.. While Cambodia has farmed macaques for years with the first shipment exported to the U.S. in 2005 the Kingdom cornered the market during the pandemic. Thats likely a conservative estimate, they said, based on factors including infant mortality and fertility rates. In general, watchdogs such as Transparency International have long found corruption to be endemic in Cambodia, routinely listing it among the worst in the world on its annual Corruption Perceptions Index. Suite #615 So, illegal trade and trafficking of the species is against the law.. A video posted on YouTube late last month showed monkeys being put into cages by men wielding metal rods. She was probably the ringleader. Endangered monkey numbers improve | Phnom Penh Post We think they will be safe there, he said. People angry as over 1,000 macaques imported to Canada from Cambodia in Cambodias dominance of this trade, which spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic, leaves researchers boggled and pointing at the countrys murky monkey business. Monkeys at Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province. Nothing like the great monkey attack of Angkor Wat. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Males measure between 20 and 26 in (52-65 cm) tall and weigh between 22 and 27 lb (10-12.2 kg). They walked toward our room and the monkeys dispersed long enough for us to get to the main road with our bags. The Forestry Administration and the Apsara National Authority (ANA) have collaborated to relocate several particularly aggressive long-tailed macaques from the Angkor Archaeological Park to protect tourists and the temples. There are a lot of this monkeys species in Cambodia . Cambodia has eight monkey farms. After a day of temple hopping we caught a traditional dancing show and dinner at one of the local hotels and headed back to the guest house. Whether they might potentially have been wild caught, Kite said. We shooed them but they didnt budge. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) revealed on Tuesday the discovery of over 20,000 endangered black-shanked douc langurs and about 1,200 endangered yellow-cheeked crested gibbons in Cambodia, mostly in Mondulkiri province's Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary. All rights reserved. In the morning we were in a rush to get out and see Angkor Wat but right outside the house, I saw a monkey holding her baby. If the U.S. is exporting live macaques or specimens from macaques imported from Cambodia, then obviously there are concerns about the origins. We had booked a budget guest house. One of the only public documents with information about in-country breeding facilities is a leaked 2014 letter from the CITES Management Authority in Cambodia, which until recently was led by the indicted Omaliss. The research community needs to be held accountable for whats happening to this species.. These are all basic enforcement requirements mandated by CITES. In what Kite called an ironic tragedy, the November indictment followed the arrest of an official from the Cambodian Forestry Administration which enforces CITES within the country in the U.S. for wildlife trafficking. Wed love to connect with you on any of the following social media platforms.