The Sad Fate of Cambodia’s Monkeys

Shirley McGreal
April 2007

I remember my first visit to Cambodia. It was in 1963 and I was a college student at the time. I was visiting Asia on one of those cheap round-the-world trips college students used to take.

I had never met such gentle people. Most of the Cambodian population is Buddhist, and shrines and temples dotted the city and countryside. The nation was at peace, under the wise rule of Prince Sihanouk. The Prince walked a tightrope between the United States (and its South Vietnamese allies) and North Vietnam, who were at war across Cambodia’s eastern border. The ruins of Angkor Wat were splendid, and the bus ride from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh across rural Cambodia was lovely. The forests were full of chattering monkeys. If only things had stayed that way!

Soon after my visit, Cambodia was plunged into the darkness of war. Bombing targeted the forests. Landmines were strewn around the nation. Millions of people died.

Cambodia’s primates become victims of trade

Despite losses caused by warfare, Cambodia’s remaining forests are home to many primate species, including endangered apes like the pileated gibbons, many species of leaf monkeys (such as the rare douc langur), and shy, nocturnal lorises. The most common primates are the crab-eating macaques (also known as long-tailed macaques, cynomolgus macaques, or Java macaques), which profited from the absence of predation for international trade for years.

Until recently, monkeys from Cambodia never appeared in international trade statistics. As late as 2004, no monkeys from Cambodia were imported into the United States. Then, in 2005, 250 crabeating macaques from Cambodia entered the U.S., followed in 2006 by 2,532 monkeys, a tenfold increase. If increases at this rate continue, Cambodia’s crab-eating macaques may face extinction.

The primates reaching the United States from Cambodia in 2006 were shipped by two animal exporters: the “Golden China Group Ltd. Zheng Zhi Ming” (1,912 monkeys) and a company called “KF (Cambodia) Ltd. Hsu” (620 monkeys). IPPL has received reports that some monkeys of Cambodian origin are shipped to China before proceeding to the United States. Other reports indicate that monkeys are shipped into Cambodia from Vietnam. It has also been suggested that some monkeys entering the United States are not being entered into the data system maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Law Enforcement Management Information Service, or LEMIS, system).

Sadly, the suffering of monkeys has made millionaires of many animal dealers. One would like to think they cannot sleep at night. Unfortunately, more often it is the caring, compassionate animal-lovers of the world who have trouble sleeping.

Cambodia Daily exposes trade

Writing in the 25 November 2006 issue of the Cambodia Daily, David McFadden and Lor Chandara wrote a story with the headline “Cambodian Monkeys Bred for Testing, Exported.” The story was datelined from the Kompong Svay district, Kompong Thom province, of Cambodia:

Obscured behind a high concrete wall with a sign reading “Golden China Primate Propagate & Research Center” is a roughly three-hectare [7.5 acre] compound housing an estimated 8,900 long-tailed macaque monkeys. Roughly 3,000 of the monkeys were captured in the wild by Cambodian villagers, according to Bun Tha, the Phnom Penh-based spokesman for Golden China.

The monkey farm is reported to be Chinese-run and located in Prey Preal village, Trapaing Russei commune. It was established in 2003. According to the Cambodia Daily, it consists of eight buildings that Cambodian workers claim are filled with caged primates. The facility is said to export monkeys to research laboratories, mostly in Japan and China. The article did not mention exports to the United States. A company spokesman named Bun Tha commented that

This company is just for research purposes and to breed monkeys for pharmaceutical testing. The project is good because we can help to prevent the smuggling of wildlife to Vietnam and create jobs for local people.

Note Mr. Bun Tha’s inference that Vietnam is importing monkeys smuggled from its neighbors. The article went on to report that

Some conservationists and officials expressed concern that the macaques— the most common form of primate in Cambodia—may not be treated humanely and that breeding farms, increasingly common in Cambodia and the rest of the region, could be used to obtain transport papers to legitimize the illegal export of wild macaques.

Chan Sarun serves as Cambodia’s Minister of Agriculture. His ministry issued permits for three monkey farms, to be located in Kompong Chhnang, Kandal, and Kompong Thom provinces. Chan Sarun stated that he was not worried about the businesses because, as he said, “Those monkey nurseries are under our control.”

Sun Hean, deputy director of the wildlife protection office for the Ministry of Agriculture, said that

We are currently working with various NGOs to decide how to improve things like the monkeys’ cage size and living conditions and will ask [Golden China] to improve the situation.

Secret photos of one of Cambodia’s sad “monkey farms,” the “China Primate Propagate & Research Center.” Many of these now motherless animals may have been wild-caught.

However, the Cambodia Daily reporters observed that

Secrecy shrouds the day-to-day operations at the Golden China site, which representatives said is not open to outsiders. On Wednesday, a reporter was grabbed by a Chinese guard as another locked the front gate after the reporter and a colleague entered the open compound. After a brief conversation with a group of nearby biomedical researchers, including Tong Fei, director of the quarantine center, reporters were politely told to leave the premises for safety reasons.

A former Golden China employee named Chim Chek reported that he was paid US$0.75 a day for construction work, which he said included the building of a brick crematorium where monkey carcasses were brought for incineration. Chek stated,

There is one building where there are several thousand monkeys in many cages…between 10 to 20 monkeys are kept in a single cage. I’m not happy with it. I think these Cambodian monkeys should live in the wild.

Company official Bun Tha said that Golden China gets its wild monkeys by buying them from villagers, and that

We tell the local people to collect the monkeys in the Tonle Sap area and Kratie and then we go and investigate the monkeys’ health before we buy them.

Tonle Sap is a biosphere reserve, an international conservation designation given by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Neou Bonher, permanent deputy of the Secretariat of the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve, a unit of the Ministry of Environment, expressed his concern about what he called “the illegal capture of monkeys from the Tonle Sap” and added that We have to watch very closely the way that they do this. I’m calling for the inspection and investigation into the monkey farms to make sure they are really monitored.

IPPL receives photos of Cambodian monkey farm

A visiting photographer sent photos of the facilities to IPPL. Two of the photos are reproduced on these pages. The photographer stated that This farm is supplying three USA import companies. This is the new primate supply superhighway. This farm claims to have a breeding system with 8,000 monkeys. This visitor also expressed suspicion that many of the exported monkeys are not captive-bred, and that some are exported from Cambodia to the United States via China.

Secret photos of one of Cambodia’s sad “monkey farms,” the “China Primate Propagate & Research Center.” Many of these now motherless animals may have been wild-caught.

Ask Cambodia to Protect Its Monkeys Please write letters to the Cambodian officials listed below (postage from the U.S. costs 84 cents per ounce) and request that they investigate the activities of Cambodia’s monkey farms and not allow further removal of monkeys from the wild. His Majesty PreahBat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni King of Cambodia Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA (begin the letter with “Your Majesty”) Other Cambodian embassies are listed online (http://www.embassy.org/cambodia/embassies.html). We hope that many letters on behalf of monkeys will reach Cambodia and its diplomatic missions from Asian nations and everywhere in the world! H.E. Dr. Chan Sarun, Minister of MAFF MAFF #200, Norodom Blvd. Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA His Excellency the Ambassador of Cambodia 4530 16th Street, NW Washington, DC 20011, USA Fax: 202-726-8381 E-mail: mail@embassyofcambodia.org Mr. Uk Sokhonn, Undersecretary of State Head of Cambodian CITES Authority MAFF #200, Norodom Blvd. Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA His Excellency the Ambassador of Cambodia Cambodian Embassy to the United Kingdom 28-32 Wellington Road St. John’s Wood London NW8 9SP, UNITED KINGDOM Fax: 20 7483 9061

Request an Investigation of U.S. Monkey Trade Please join IPPL in calling for an investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Division of Law Enforcement of the origin of the huge numbers of crab-eating macaques being imported to the United States. A suspiciously unrealistically high proportion of these animals are claimed to have been “captive-born” in various Asian countries, including Cambodia. Please contact: The Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Division of Law Enforcement 4401 North Fairfax Drive Arlington, VA 22203, USA Fax: 703-358-2271 In addition, please write a similar letter to your congressional representative and senators. A full list can be found online (http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/). If you live overseas, please contact the U.S. Ambassador to your country of residence. You can find a full list of U.S. embassies on the Web (http://usembassy.state.gov/).

International Action Needed to Save Macaque Monkeys The crab-eating macaques may well be starting on the road to extinction. Although they are as yet comparatively common, they are safe in no country they inhabit and the demand for them is increasing. Many are captured for use in ghastly biowarfare and infectious disease agent experiments, where they are exposed to tremendous and undeserved pain and suffering. Further contributing to the plight of the macaques is the fact that they are also considered a culinary delicacy in many parts of Asia, especially China and Vietnam. Other macaque species are also in trouble. Already several macaque species, like the stump-tailed and lion-tailed macaques, have become endangered. Please ask the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to establish a task force charged with evaluating the plight of macaques worldwide. Dr. Achim Steiner, Executive Director United Nations Environment Programme United Nations Avenue, Gigiri P.O. Box 30552 Nairobi 00100, KENYA Fax: (254-20) 7624489/90 Please note that postage from the United States to Kenya costs 84 cents per half ounce.