CEDA
onlus
Indonesian primate trade
London (GB) - 1 May 2009
The Bali Times. 1 May 2009.
Indonesia’s Unethical and Illegal Primate Supply
Chain Must End.
Sarah Kite
LONDON ~ A recent investigation carried out by the
British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV)
has highlighted the role of Indonesia in supplying
non-human primates to the international research
industry. It is a trade that undoubtedly inflicts
great suffering on Indonesia’s macaques.
Moreover, it is not limited to the trade in research.
A variety of primate species are also exploited and
mistreated, for the pet, entertainment and food
industries.
The findings of our investigation raise major
concerns regarding animal welfare and compliance
with Indonesian legislation as well as the
Convention on the International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES) regulations. The situation becomes
even more urgent because the Ministry of Forestry
has increased trapping quotas for wild-caught
long-tailed macaques three-fold from 5,100 in 2008
to an alarming 15,100 for 2009.
This figure is contrary to the known decline in
macaque populations worldwide.
Primate population studies represent a key tool to
enable member states of CITES to safeguard the
conservation status of threatened species and, in
particular, to comply with their duties under CITES
to ensure that the export of a species will not be
detrimental to the survival of that species.
Our investigation, however, has revealed major
concerns regarding the scientific validity and
objectivity of primate population surveys carried
out in Indonesia. Of particular concern was the
claim that primate companies have funded population
surveys and even accompanied scientific officials
along with representatives from the Ministry of
Forestry to carry out these surveys. Yet these are
the very surveys used by the Indonesian authorities
as the basis for deciding what numbers of macaques
can be taken from the wild.
Our investigation has also revealed the cruelty
inflicted on macaques during their capture,
transportation and confinement and the poor
conditions in which they are kept at primate supply
companies. Such treatment and conditions breached
international animal welfare guidelines set by the
International Primatological Society.
Indonesia banned the export of wild-caught monkeys
for research in 1994. According to our findings,
however, this “ban” is a sham. Through lack of
enforcement by the Indonesian authorities and the
use of misleading source codes for CITES export
permits, we believe that wild-caught monkeys
continue to be exported for the international
research industry.
In some cases, wild-caught monkeys have simply been
removed from one location in Indonesia and placed on
islands under conditions no different from their
original homes.
Subsequently, wild primates who are living and
breeding freely in a natural environment are being
inappropriately and misleadingly designated as
captive-born animals by the Indonesian authorities
in what appears to be an attempt to avoid the
restrictions that would otherwise be placed on the
trade by CITES and by its own legislation.
Part of the reason long-tailed macaques are being
traded in such large numbers is because they are
considered “pests.”
There are other ways of managing the situation
without resorting to export or killing. We urge
President Yudhoyono to address the underlying
problem of human-monkey conflict with compassion.
Although some people believe that exporting or
killing, often the same thing, is a solution, this
is not only cruel; it fails to address the issue
long-term. There are ways to control monkey
populations that are not only humane but are also
more effective. These include the relocation of
monkeys and the control of their reproduction as
well as educating the public. A key element in
wildlife-human conflicts is inappropriate behaviour
by people.
Encouraging animals by providing a food source, for example, reduces their innate fear of humans and encourages conflicts.
Scientists often claim that it is important to use
monkeys in research because they are so much like
humans. It is, however, this very fact that makes
their use completely unethical.
Importantly, the scientific appropriateness of this
use is also being challenged by knowledgeable
people, including scientists, worldwide.
The Indonesian government must know that the monkeys
it exports end up in laboratories where pain and
suffering are the routine. For example, many of the
monkeys are used in toxicity testing, which involves
the forced ingestion, inhalation or injection of
potentially lethal and poisonous chemicals. We know
that in the US, some are also being used in
disturbing experiments that have involved the forced
consumption of alcohol and the surgical mutilation
of female monkeys. Most of the animals are killed at
the end of the experiments; the rest may end up
being used again and again or are sold to other
laboratories. This is a far cry from living freely
with their families in the jungles of Indonesia. In
the past, the government of India banned the export
of its indigenous rhesus macaques after learning of
the gruesome experiments to which they were being
subjected in the US. The situation is not materially
different for Indonesia’s long-tailed macaques.
We urge President Yudhoyono to take a stand and to
follow the lead of other countries in Asia to ban
the trapping, breeding and export of any macaques
for the research industry. To what extent there is
the political will in Indonesia to address the
issues raised from our investigation remains to be
seen. We have at least placed these important
concerns into the international arena.
We hope that the government of Indonesia and CITES
will respond accordingly and carry out their own
investigation into our findings. Most importantly,
we hope the people of Indonesia will take a moment
to reflect on the cruelty and brutality that is
being inflicted on Indonesia’s indigenous primate
populations and that they will themselves demand
action be taken by their government.