Monkeys in Cambodia Are Suffering because They Have a Sales Value

Posted on 12 August 2008
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 573

“Phnom Penh: According to a new report from an international conservationist organization, monkeys in Cambodia are becoming endangered animals because of the destruction of the forest and of hunting, while local people said that they are animals easy to sell, and merchants come to buy them directly where they are caught.

“According to a report of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, nearly half of approximately 634 species of small and big monkeys and of gibbons in the world are endangered, and monkeys living in their natural habitat in Cambodia are also badly affected.

“This report shows that about 303 species of monkeys are threatened, and 69 are seriously endangered; as for Cambodia, here nine among ten species are endangered.

“The report of this organization shows that monkeys in Cambodia are in a most precarious situation. The report illustrates that 90% of monkeys in Cambodia are struggling to survive, because they are being hunted and killed to mix their remains to produce traditional Chinese medicine. In this situation, after Cambodia comes Vietnam where 86% of the monkeys are endangered, then Indonesia with 84%, Laos with 83%, and China with 79%.

“Mr. Russell Mittermeier, the president of this organization, reported in [the Indian] New Kerala that these species of monkeys are in danger because of the destruction of tropical forests, but now there is another cause: hunting.

“A local person from northwestern Cambodia told this organization that monkeys are being searched to be hunted everyday by villagers, in order to sell them to merchants who come directly to buy them where they are caught.

“Mr. Pai Phong Nhuk, the head of the Sesan Community Network, said that nobody can stop the villagers. They always form groups of four or six people to look for monkeys in flooded forests along the Sesan River to catch and sell them to merchants.

“Mr. “Pai Phong Nhuk said that he does not know where those monkeys are taken to, but merchants always come to buy them directly at the villages.

“He added, ‘Khmer and Vietnamese merchants always come to buy monkeys for between Riel 450,000 [approx. US$110] and Riel 500,000 [approx. US$125].”

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4664, 10-11.8.2008
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:Monday, 11 August 2008