Residents Voiced Concerns After Perhilitan Shot Monkeys Dead At Batu Caves
Plainclothes Perhilitan officers allegedly trapped and shot the wild monkeys at a residential area in Batu Caves.
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The wildlife protection and national parks department (Perhilitan) is under fire for culling wild monkeys in the vicinity of an apartment building in Batu Caves.
Avatar Singh Kundu Singh, a resident and former chairman of SunwayMas apartment’s joint management body (JMB), filed the complaint after he allegedly saw three plainclothes Perhilitan officers shooting the monkeys on 13 June.
Avatar said the three men stood beside a four-wheel drive with a Perhilitan sticker and shot at the monkeys with their rifles.
He claimed that some of the monkeys were put in cages and shot at point-blank.
Since there was no prior warning, residents were shocked and panicked when they heard the gunshots.
Avatar added that the area had an unpleasant smell as several carcasses were left behind. He believes at least 20 monkeys were killed that day.
In a New Straits Times report, a Facebook user @Vimalchanz Vmal said the monkeys did not attack residents and were just foraging for food.
Previously, videos that showed Perhilitan officers getting reprimanded by a resident for allegedly killing the monkeys went viral.
A man recording the video voiced his concerns that Perhilitan brought weapons to the housing area.
The officer told the man to lodge a police report if he has an issue with what they were doing to the monkeys.
It’s against the law to kill the monkeys
Lawyers for Animal Rights founder Rajesh Nagarajan said it’s against the law for Perhilitan to kill the long-tailed macaques because the animals are protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act as a protected species.
He said Perhilitan should have opted for a more humane solution by catching the monkeys and relocating the animals. The NGO has urged Perhilitan to take action against its officers who allegedly killed the monkeys at Batu Caves.
Not the first time it happened
It’s not the first time Perhilitan reacted poorly towards wild animals. In 2021, Free Malaysia Today reported that Perhilitan was accused of shooting dusty leaf monkeys in Port Dickson.
Pictures of the incident went viral with claims that Perhilitan officers killed 20 monkeys at the Seri Sentosa Education quarters area.
Perhilitan denied the allegations and said they only killed seven aggressive monkeys. It said the culling only took place after failed attempts to capture the animals.
Wildlife activists, including Lawyers for Animal Rights, planned to file a suit against Perhilitan after the agency failed to take action against its officers.
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