Is China the answer to Sri Lanka's increasing monkey population?

Sri Lanka's Ministry of Agriculture has received a request from a Chinese delegation to deliver Toque Macaque monkeys to Chinese zoo's and parks as a solution to the rising Toque Macaque monkey population in the island nation.

As per the request, authorities of the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Ministry of Agriculture are currently discussing the export of 100,000 toque macaques to the Zoological Gardens in China.

Environmentalists, however, are skeptical about this move.

Sri Lanka's Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has noted that a committee will be appointed subject to cabinet approval to explore the legal standing of exporting Toque Macaque monkeys to another country.

The Agriculture Ministry said that the country's monkey population crossed 3 million, and all efforts taken by the authorities to control the monkey population had failed, leading to consider the option of exporting Toque Macaque monkeys to China.

Toque Macaques, also commonly known as Rilawa, has been assessed for The Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2015.