22nd February, 2017
A Japanese zoo culled 57 of its 164 monkeys after finding they carried “invasive alien” genes, said a local official said on Wednesday.
Tsutomu Hirano, a Futtsu city official, said that the monkeys, which were originally believed to be pure Japanese macaques, were killed by lethal injection at Takgoyama Nature Zoo, in January.
“A Buddhist monk held a funeral service for the monkeys at the zoo on Feb. 8.
“The culling was carried out to protect the native environment after DNA testing showed they were crossbred with rhesus macaque, which is designated as an “invasive alien species” in Japan,’’ Hirano said.
Japanese law prohibits the possession and transport of invasive species.
Report says Japanese macaques, native to Japan, are one of the country’s tourist attractions.