The Indian rhesus macaque is no longer a protected species, under the Wild Life Protection (Amendment) Act 2022 (WLPA). This leaves them vulnerable to all kinds of cruelty such as being killed in barbaric experiments, illegal trading, and other forms of exploitation.

FIAPO wrote to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (letter below) detailing why the delisting of the rhesus macaque will have serious repercussions (letter below). 

Sign our petition for restoring legal protection to Indian rhesus macaques and saving them from abuse and exploitation! 

FIAPO's Letter to Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying

Dear Sir, 

We write to you on behalf of the more than 190 animal protection organisations that are members of the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations (FIAPO), India’s apex animal rights organisation.

We express our deep apprehension over the delisting of rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) from the Schedules of the Wild Life Protection (Amendment) Act, 2022, which came into effect from April 1, 2023. 

Prior to the 2022 amendment, the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) was a protected species, listed under Schedule II of the Wild Life Protection Act (WLPA) 1972. This crucial inclusion in the Schedules of the WLPA afforded the rhesus macaque protection from killing or trading. However, with the amendment Act, the protection provided to the rhesus macaque has been removed.

With this legal protection withdrawn, we fear that the much-revered Indian rhesus macaque population may be subjected to increasing cruelty and suffering in the form of experimentation, domestication, or slaughtering.  

We urge you to take appropriate measures to re-schedule the rhesus macaque in the Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act, 2022. Our scriptures and constructional, traditional, and cultural values implore us to preserve and protect all creatures living or not, and treat them with the utmost dignity and respect. We urge you to take all measures necessary to ensure that rhesus macaques are not denied their inherent right to life with dignity and freedom from unnecessary pain, suffering, and exploitation. 

Our apprehensions that arise out of the Wild Life Protection (Amendment) Act, 2022, and the resultant delisting of the rhesus macaque from Schedule II of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972, are listed below

1.     Resurgence of the export of Indian rhesus macaque

In the year 1978, the government of India had imposed a ban on the export of rhesus macaques after it was discovered that the exported monkeys were subjected to unethical experiments that endangered their lives.[1]Following the ban, the exporters looked at countries like Bangladesh and China for export of monkeys. 

With Sri Lanka halting its plan to export 1,00,000 monkeys to China[2], China cutting its export to the USA[3], and multiple species of monkey facing extinction in Bangladesh and around the world[4], we have strong apprehensions that the international market may look to India to offset the demand. 

India had witnessed a sharp decline in the population of rhesus macaque before a ban was imposed back in 1978; it took decades for the rhesus macaque population to recover. With the protection status gone, we believe that a similar fate awaits the rhesus macaque again. 

2.     Illegal breeding and cruelty

With the delisting of rhesus macaque from the Schedule II of the WLPA, 1972, this species of monkey has been removed from legal protection and can be traded freely. We believe that in the absence of legal protection for the species, the monkeys are likely to suffer more as no protection is provided to them under the Act and they could become victims of illegal and unethical breeding practices for commercial gains. 

The Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition, of which FIAPO is a core member, recently published a report documenting 1,266 video links, with total views of 12,054,378,907 depicting macaques (of various species) subjected to deliberate psychological torture, being beaten, burnt alive, limbs amputated, tortured to death, and being subjected to the most traumatic psychological distress. The use of macaques as subjects of such torture on social media for likes and follows is well documented. 

3.     Unnecessary suffering

The US is the most prolific importer of monkeys in the world primarily because it has no hard legal restriction on animal testing and experimentation. The primates are separated from their packs and are transported to the country in congested wooden crates, where they are despatched to various laboratories to be used in cruel and unethical experiments. They are deprived of their natural environment or the opportunity to express natural patterns of behaviours.  The primates are subjected to isolation and loneliness. Moreover, they are also cut open, poisoned, addicted to various substances, and oftentimes left crippled or dead. 

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether Inotiv and several of its subsidiaries violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in efforts to source monkeys from Asia for use in their animal testing facilities and to sell to other laboratories. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Cambodian officials were allegedly paid to hand out permits stating that wild long-tailed macaques (captured in national parks and protected wild habitats) were bred in captivity.[5]

In order to mitigate the possible infliction of cruelty upon these hapless primates, it is essential that the protection that was previously granted to them in the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972 is restored. Hence, we urge you to take appropriate measures to ensure that the multiple decades worth of efforts that has gone into conservation of rhesus macaques is not rendered fruitless and more scientific methods are adopted to mitigate the human-wildlife conflict that has led to loss to both the wildlife and humans. 

We hope that our concerns will be addressed and that the protected status of the Indian rhesus macaques will be restored. 

Sincerely,

FIAPO