Here’s a good news story to round off the week! Back in April, an informant called the ENV hotline to report that a rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) was being kept illegally in a parking lot in Ho Chi Minh City. Although ENV immediately informed the local Forest Protection Department, when they arrived at the site to check, the macaque had mysteriously disappeared. From that point onward, this scenario was repeated many times, leading our team to refer to the situation as the case of the “magic macaque”.
Macaque being kept in cage at parking lot; inset of a macaque is for illustration only
We persevered and called local authorities yesterday to confirm the macaque was once again present at the site. They went to the car park immediately and confiscated the animal. The monkey was being kept in a small bird cage, making it easy for the keeper to hide it quickly whenever the authorities approached. Today, they confirmed the macaque had been released to Can Gio Biosphere Reserve.
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