The Taitung County Government today reminded the public that raising and breeding Formosan rock macaques is illegal, punishable by a fine between NT$50,000 and NT$250,000.
The reminder comes after several cases were found of people keeping and raising macaques as pets after their protected wildlife status was removed.
This year, the Taitung County Government has dealt with eight cases of people owning macaques, an increase compared with previous years.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
To ensure the safety of macaques — which are social animals that need community — as well as people, who can be infected by communicable diseases from the animals, the Ministry of Agriculture banned raising or importing them on Sept. 30, 2022.
The Formosan rock macaque is native to Taiwan and is the nation’s only indigenous primate, the Taitung County Agriculture Department said.
Although it was removed from the protected animals list in 2019, the species is still covered by the Animal Protection Act (動物保育法) and the Act on Wildlife Conservation (野生動物保育法), the department said.
Although many people wrongly assume that because it is not a protected species they can be bred and raised at will, doing so causes conflicts between people and monkeys, damages the animals’ health and leads to increased risk of diseases for humans, it said.
People should abide by a “Three Nos” policy with regards to the monkeys: “no feeding, no interfering, no contact,” the department said.
The macaques must not be bred as it takes away their right to live in nature and results in them losing their ability to survive in the wild, the department added, reminding people that failure to abide by the Animal Protection Act could result in fines of between NT$50,000 and NT$250,000.
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