NGO, resident appeal dismissal of Perhilitan suit over monkey culling

PETALING JAYA: A wildlife rights NGO and a resident of a neighbourhood in Port Dickson are appealing the dismissal by the Seremban High Court of their lawsuit against a government agency over the alleged culling of dusky leaf monkeys in 2021.

Hak Asasi Hidupan Liar Malaysia (Hidup) and Nurul Azreen Sultan, a resident of Taman Raja Zainal where the culling allegedly occurred, filed the notice of appeal at the appellate court in Putrajaya on Nov 26, stating their disappointment with the Oct 30 ruling by the High Court judge, Hamdan Abdul Aziz.

Hamdan had dismissed the suit and awarded costs of RM10,000 to the wildlife and national parks department (Perhilitan).

When contacted, the plaintiffs’ counsel, Rajesh Nagarajan, told FMT his clients believed that the “murder of the dusky leaf monkeys was completely illegal”.

He said they also believed that Perhilitan had violated the Wildlife Conservation Act, which deals with the wilful causing of unnecessary suffering, pain or discomfort to wildlife.

“We want justice for the murdered monkeys,” he added.

Hidup and Azreen sued Perhilitan in 2021. They also named the department’s director-general as well as the energy and natural resources minister as defendants.

Perhilitan previously denied culling 20 monkeys, saying it had only killed seven which were aggressive and had frequently disturbed residents in the area.

It said its officials were forced to kill the monkeys after attempts to capture the animals were unsuccessful.