Several environmental organizations and animal rights groups have raised deep concerns about the Sri Lankan government’s decision to export up to 100,000 monkeys (Toque macaque) to China.

Earlier this week, the Agriculture Ministry revealed that a Chinese delegation has made a request from the Sri Lankan government to provide toque macaques for zoos in China.

The ministry said there is a high demand for toque macaques in China and that exporting the monkeys, which were recently removed from the list of protected species on the island, may help control the increasing monkey population.

A special meeting was held on Wednesday to discuss exporting 100,000 toque macaques to China. The discussion was chaired by Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, ministerial officials and the Department of National Zoological Gardens, and the Department of Wildlife Conservation.

It was also decided to appoint a committee to look into the matter and study the related legal procedures.

The toque macaque is endemic to Sri Lanka and common on the island but is classed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list.

Sri Lanka removed several species including all three monkey species in the country – namely tufted gray langur, purple-faced leaf monkey and toque macaque – from the protected list, taking into account the fact that monkeys have become a menace as they constantly damage the crops and forage the villages for food. This allows farmers to kill the animals which are not listed as protected.

However, conservationists took issue with the decision to export toque macaques, saying that they are sceptical that these animals are planned to be used for experiments in China as toque macaques show high genetic similarity to humans.

Toque macaques are officially estimated to number between 2-3 million in Sri Lanka.