The three members submitted a report on the conditions macaques face, in which they called on the Council of Agriculture — which oversees the Forestry Bureau — to review and improve laws governing the protection of wildlife, including macaques. The lack of such laws has resulted in people capturing macaques to raise them privately, and in some cases killing females to capture their infants, they said. The members said their investigation uncovered 151 cases of people raising macaques, with some reportedly buying the animals for NT$50,000 to NT$60,000 each. The members said that although the macaques are no longer on the protected species list, they are unique to Taiwan and should be protected by law. The report made suggestions about the rescue and release of macaques into the wild, including the potential to release the animals on Taiwan’s uninhabited islands.
