As Cambodian governor Mashphal Kry made his way to an international meeting, he was apprehended in New York. The deputy director of wildlife and biodiversity for the Kingdom’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries was charged as part of an “international primate smuggling ring,” for smuggling endangered long-tailed macaques from Cambodia to the U.S.

Kry’s arrest is part of the tragic irony of the Kingdom’s longstanding and growing illegal wildlife trade in the Kingdom, that those responsible for vulnerable species’ protection are party to their exploitation for profit. Globe’s Anton L. Delgado explores how some Cambodian officials are intertwined in a grubby underground of primate trade, which continues despite U.S. charges.

He’s one of eight charged as part of an “international primate smuggling ring,” which includes the director general of Cambodia’s Forestry Administration, as well as the owner, general manager and four employees of primate supplier, Vanny Resources and Bio Research, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Bribes for ministry officials reached tens of thousands of dollars over the years, indicated a U.S. court document, which also noted a hefty donation from Vanny Bio Research to Cambodia’s ruling political party at the request of the now-indicted director general.

As the Cambodian government remains tight-lipped, conservationists wonder if the charges will spark change. Today, primatologists fear that ecosystems without macaques could have concerning effects on Southeast Asia’s forests.

mannanman wrote: ↑Mon Nov 21, 2022 2:59 pm Monkeys can all go and fuck off. Creepy little bastards the lot of them, especially the small ones.

Endangered. Pfft. Until they discover 2 million of them hiding in the forest.

It’s like panda bears. How long do humans have to keep trying to make them fuck each other successfully? They should have died out years ago like maxi size Mars bars.

hanno wrote: ↑Tue Nov 22, 2022 8:48 am

mannanman wrote: ↑Mon Nov 21, 2022 2:59 pm Monkeys can all go and fuck off. Creepy little bastards the lot of them, especially the small ones.

Endangered. Pfft. Until they discover 2 million of them hiding in the forest.

It’s like panda bears. How long do humans have to keep trying to make them fuck each other successfully? They should have died out years ago like maxi size Mars bars.

No wonder our planet is all fcuked up with attitudes like this.

newkidontheblock wrote: ↑Tue Nov 22, 2022 4:52 pm That place looks more like a factory than a center. Rows upon rows of long production buildings. With a guard tower in the middle. Are they trying to breed primates or just mass manufacture them there?