As the Council of Agriculture prepares to remove Formosan rock macaques from the protected species list on Wednesday next week, forestry officials earlier this week warned that, despite a change to their conservation status, killing the monkeys would remain proscribed by law.
The council in September last year said that it would begin classifying the monkeys as a species of “ordinary wildlife,” ending a nearly 30-year conservation policy.
Other species losing protected conservation status are the Reeves’ muntjac, Latham’s snipe, the cobra, the brown-spotted pit viper, the many-banded krait and the short-legged japalure.
Photo courtesy of the Changhua County Government
Meanwhile, 17 species are to be added to the protected species list, including the Taiwan rosefinch, the white-eared sibia, the common buttonquail, the great knot and the checkered keelback.
Although the monkeys are soon to become “ordinary wildlife,” they would still be protected from hunting or trapping by the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法), the bureau said in a statement, adding that contravening the act carries a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$300,000.
Additionally, existing regulations forbidding the killing of wildlife in national conservation areas — which account for 45 percent of the nation’s territory — are to remain in effect, guaranteeing sufficient habitat for the monkey population, it said.
The decision to remove the monkeys from the protected species list was informed by experts who believe that changing their conservation status would have no immediately significant effect on the species, it added.
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