The marvel of genes:
One of the reasons for protecting wild animals is in fact to protect genes that are beneficial to man. The gene pool has been shaped over the course of hundreds of millions of years. As soon as a species' genes are lost it means that mankind has lost a priceless treasure that it will never see again. By protecting one more gene, perhaps, like in the movie Jurassic Park, we will one day be able to bring the dinosaurs back to life.
Researchers around the world are working to store wild animal genes. Keeping the genes in the natural environment is the easiest method and best way of guaranteeing quality. Breeding in captivity may significantly alter a species' genetic makeup and reduce its resistance to disease. When needed, the bad genes can be replaced by good ones from the wild population.
This is why when the county government brought up their concern about the destiny of mankind and suggested releasing Formosan rock monkeys in the wild, the Council of Agriculture and ecologists told the county government not to be too anxious.
"Prohibiting releases in the wild is good both for people and the future of the species," Wu Haiyin says. How many of Huang Han-fu's monkeys have been interbred and how pure they are must be considered. Otherwise, it will affect the purity of the wild species.
Even if environmental assessment deems that a release can be made, it is necessary first to have a semi-wild environment so that the monkeys can learn how to survive in the wild. Hence, some group needs to manage this long-term job. It took a lot of money and more than ten years of effort to isolate pure-bred strains of the Formosan Sika deer and then get the deer adjusted to the wild environment. For a monkey preserve, first you'd have to put up fences to prevent their escape and carry out research to get stock with pure genes. After they were released in the wild, there would have to be continued tracking of them to see how they influenced the groups that had always been wild. Each step would be expense. Just because one person didn't respect the law, central and local government and ultimately tax payers would have to keep feeding this money pit. "You'd spend a lot right off," says one conservationist, "and then if there were problems when you released them in the wild, you'd have to come up with more money."
War of the monkeys:
To the Formosan Rock Monkeys of Changhua themselves, being released in the wild is definitely not the best way to go. Most of them have already spent seven or eight years in cages. If people released them today, albeit with the best of intentions, it might be more like abandonment- -because these monkeys may have lost their ability to survive in the wild. "Many of them are old, and they would make poor learners," one expert says. "If they saw men, their past experience might tell them that they could get fed, and the result is that they might injure people or get hurt themselves."
Even if these "pet monkeys" can make it out in the wild, in the deep mountains groups of already wild monkeys have staked out their claims. With ever less natural habitat, there's no way a new group will be welcome. In Changhua itself, there's no wild area large enough for it. The only mountain district, at the foot of Pakua Mountain, is home already to some 30 monkeys, which have recently been making a mess of local litchi orchards and causing farmers to complain to the county government. Dumping the domesticated monkeys there would result in competition between them and the wild monkeys.
"Why should we hurt wild monkey groups with these raised in captivity?" says Wu Hai-yin. These groups in the wild generally range from 30 to 50, and the areas in which they live are quite defined. If suddenly a battalion of 100 monkeys arrived from captivity, the original inhabitants would suffer from their loss of living space.
The Monkey King becomes a pet:
If a release in the wild would cause too much damage, then what about allowing a sale of the monkeys? "I'm afraid that would not only not solve Huang Han-fu's problem," says one academic, "but would cause even more problems"--because the future might constitute a series of monkey blood baths.
Recently, in America there have been many cases of people getting rabies from horses and small wild animals. A monkey's tooth is four centimeters long. Besides the pain to the skin and flesh, the bite, being from a fellow primate, would be much more likely to carry a communicable disease.
"Monkeys are troublemakers by nature and make unsuitable pets," says Wu Hai-yin. Many think of monkeys as being really cute, and it's only when they buy one and bring it home that they discover all the problems. For example, instead of breaking branches as in the wild, Bonzo may break the furniture in your living room. Unable to cope, owners abandon their pets. Zoos frequently take such monkeys. Often, after paying dearly for them, the buyers of Huang Han-fu's young monkeys will bring them back. Huang gives them nothing in return.
If Huang and others can get permission to buy and sell monkeys, it could cause a problem with strays a la cats and dogs.
When people raise wild animals in large numbers farm animals are the result. There's no point in doing this today, says Tang Hsiao-yu. With the current abundance of livestock, people have many ways to get animal protein. The trend is to discourage people from raising or trading in wild animals in large quantities. "Raising monkeys as pets and eating monkey brain are not life necessities," he says.
Wild animals need not just be put somewhere to fend for themselves. With care and protection, some species may revive. When their numbers have multiplied, some of the controls over their treatment may be relaxed, such as by permitting restricted hunting. If natural resources can be used eternally, people wouldn't need to waste a lot of money restoring species.
A bird in the hand:
This may be the case, but in looking at current efforts to breed wild animals in captivity, the Council of Agriculture takes a more practical tack, asking scholars to gather data widely and hoping they will refer to the experimental models used by foreign studies of primates. The council is also drawing up guidelines for the breeding of protected wild animal species. At appropriate times it will provide human-bred monkeys to be used by research units.
"But you've got to proceed very cautiously," explains Tang Hsiao-yu, about why the guidelines for breeding protected animal species have yet to be finalized. Protesting at recent international conferences, animal rights groups have unfolded posters of monkeys with their skulls opened up. The Council of Agriculture must consider the situation abroad. It may follow the lead of Western nations and give licenses to experimenters after they have been properly inspected. Those without licenses would not be allowed to conduct experiments on monkeys. Breeders that provided research units with their monkeys would also need tighter controls, including regulations about the breeding environment. These controls would prevent them from abusing animal species and getting themselves in trouble with animal rights groups.
What are the monkeys' sins?
But laws are of no use in an emergency. What can be done with the monkeys of Changhua?
The curtain hasn't come down on this problem, and it is said that many monkeys are dying young. The Council of Agriculture has thought about confiscating them and sending them to three different areas. Veterinarians say that among the monkeys that have died, one had long-term liver problems and one had dysentery. Can monkeys long caged by man, in poor health and with many diseases, adapt to a new environment? What crime have these monkeys committed? According to the Orangutan Foundation, there's not much that can be done about a situation like this. There are always some living things that will have to suffer.
But to prevent similar problems from reoccurring requires hard work. Hsia Liang-chou, a professor at the National Pingtung Polytechnic Institute, wonders how many times relevant government units have gone to educate the animal breeders since the preservation law has been implemented? Has anyone told them not to interbreed monkeys? What effects will raising Formosan rock monkeys have on the environment? What effect would releases have? "Before you start making requests of these people, you've got to educate them first." If even the work of scientists researching crop yields may be affected by restrictions on the breeding of wild animals in captivity, how can we expect that normal breeders will suddenly understand the ecological point of view?"
The monkeys on the street are, one fears, telling us that the implementation of ecological conservation measures is not something that can just be the concern of a few. It requires a lot of effort to be spent in communication and education. But even if Huang Han-fu's monkeys can teach people this lesson, it may still be too late for the monkeys themselves.
[Picture Caption]
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Huang Han-fu leads his Formosan rock monkeys out on the street, asking the county government to permit him to sell them, (photo courtesy of Hung Pi-chen)
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Before the Wildlife Conservation Law was implemented, monkey brain was a delicacy served at restaurants specializing in mountain cuisine. (photo by Vincent Chang)
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Huang's monkeys use a gas drum with its ends removed to serve as their humble home. There are some that have been put in cages to mate.
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The angry growl of the Monkey King: Some people want to gorge on my brain, others to raise me as a pet--where do I get respect?
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Although it can't ride on clouds or fog, climbing trees and swinging from the branches is a piece of cake. Recently a war has broken out over the monkeys of Changua, and it has expanded to include the question of whether or not monkeys in the wild should be protected.
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Have you seen this kind of scene in the wild? Protecting wild monkeys preserves genes that may be of benefit to humanity. What`s even more important is that it makes the world more colorful. Doesn't it?
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