WorldA Japanese zoo has culled 57 native snow monkeys by lethal injection after finding that they carried genes of an “invasive alien species”, officials said Tuesday. But the operator and local officials discovered about one-third were crossbred with the rhesus macaque, which in Japan is designated an “invasive alien species”. Junkichi Mima, spokesman for conservation group WWF Japan, said invasive species cause problems “because they get mixed in with indigenous animals and threaten the natural environment and ecosystem”. The zoo started feeding wild snow monkeys in 1957 and held dozens in a rough fence, the city official said. The Takagoyama zoo conducted DNA testing on its snow monkeys and discovered the mixture.

Source: Sunday Times February 21, 2017 10:12 UTC