Monkey business
For a moment, the public may be excused if they fell for what they thought was a belated April Fool's joke by the Agriculture Minister. It, however, turned out to be a serious proposal by him to export 100,000 monkeys – to China.
He first made out that this was an official request for the monkeys to go to Chinese zoos. Then, in the face of denials from the Chinese authorities, he ‘about-turned’ to say it was a private request trying to make out the Chinese were doing Lanka a favour with an 'unsolicited proposal' to remove the 'pests' destroying agricultural crops. The Chinese embassy threw a wet towel on this with a disclaimer saying there were strict laws in the People's Republic governing the import of animals. They are clearly sensitive to the subject of live animals and wet markets in China that may have the outbreak of COVID-19.
Social media had a field day. Some clips showed the politicians responsible for the ruination of agriculture and asked that they be exported to China first. Others belittled the Government's drive to sell off stakes in state institutions and asked if they were reduced to selling the monkeys as "jaathika vasthu" (national assets). The UNP General Secretary supported the Minister adding that even peacocks should be exported. What about elephants who are destroying crops and farmers’ homes, someone asked, but the elephant, after all, is his party's symbol.
The nuisance to crops and the daily lives of humans living in rural areas from wild animals is clearly a problem, the 'human-elephant' conflict being the biggest. In a country with limited landmass, increasing human and animal populations and the expansion of human settlements bringing humans into closer contact with wild animals, on average some 70 humans and 200 elephants lose their lives annually due to these conflicts. Agricultural research agencies give statistics on the damage to crops.
The export of monkeys as a solution to the monkey menace, however, raised eyebrows for several reasons. One is that China does not seem to have that many zoos to house 100,000 of them. Monkey flesh, on the other hand, is a known delicacy in China. The Chinese make no bones about it. Monkeys are used for medical research. And though the Minister says the contractual price has not been discussed, when China exported its COVID-19 vaccine it specifically wanted the price tag kept a top secret.
The newly appointed Wildlife Conservation Minister's silence on the matter is deafening. That ministry was taken away from the Agriculture Minister shortly after he could not safeguard the Yala National Park from his own relatives. There are several methods to control the monkey menace. If they can capture 100,000 monkeys for export, why can't they be vasectomized as they have done with stray dogs in the cities?
Successive Governments have struggled to enact the Animal Welfare Bill. It has been on the back-burner of the legislative agenda now for decades. On the eve of Vesak, it does not bode well for a Government to ignore the rights of animals and disregard the Buddha's message that "all beings" be free from suffering; free from disease; and be well.