NEWS
ACRES PRESS RELEASE
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TODAY
5 May 2004
Rescued vervet monkey repatriated to Africa
By Ted Chen
A vervet monkey which had been confiscated by the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) last May will be the first pet primate to be repatriated to Africa on an early morning flight today.
The AVA found the monkey in a cage in a Tuas factory, following a tip-off from the International Primate Protection League (IPPL) and the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres).
It had a chain around its neck and had been fed with rice and stale water.
The monkey, which was from Cape Town, South Africa, was acquired by its owner six years ago from a sailor.
Acres president Louis Ng said that the owner’s daughter had emailed the IPPL last March, asking for a home for the adult monkey which had started to bite.
IPPL informed Acres and the AVA, which set out to rescue the monkey. The owner has since been fined $200 for keeping the monkey as a pet illegally.
The monkey – nicknamed Blue – has since been in the care of the Singapore Zoological gardens.
When Blue first arrived, zoo veterinarian Oh Soon Hock told Newsradio 93.8: “He had abrasions and was very depressed. However, after a few months, he became much friendlier.”
Mr. Ng added that Acres initially had difficulty securing import permits from the South African authorities. In the end, it managed to find blue a home at the Munda Wanga Sanctuary in Zambia.
Blue will be put on a Singapore Airlines flight at 1.30am today and is expected to reach Zambia around noon. Blue had to be sent back because, unlike other confiscated primates that have made their home at the zoo, there is no community of vervet monkeys here.
Vervet monkeys are listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Anyone importing or exporting a scheduled species without a Cites permit from AVA may be fined up to $5,000 and face a year in jail.
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