Please see the following statement from PETA primate scientist Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel regarding the announcement by Sri Lanka’s attorney general today that the government’s plan to send 100,000 toque macaque monkeys to China has been canceled:

PETA is grateful to Sri Lanka’s government for nixing the plan to export 100,000 monkeys to China and for recognizing that they aren’t commodities to be bought and sold. As Sri Lankan animal groups and primate experts showed, these macaques are individuals with families who live in tight-knit communities. Their lives matter, and so does their contribution to their forest home. Officials have done the right thing.

For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.