Couple held for capturing protected baby monkeys
A couple from out of town has been detained after entering Shanghai with two rhesus monkeys in their car, police said on Friday.
The rhesus monkey is a protected animal in China, meaning the couple — who admitted that they captured the monkeys from the wild — could face up to five years in prison and a fine.
At about 4am on October 20, Jinshan police stopped the couple's car at a checkpoint on the G15 Expressway for a regular check when they discovered the monkeys.
The woman, surnamed Zhang, was found to be carrying a monkey in her arms and one in her pants, police said.
Since Zhang and her husband, surnamed Zhu, declined to say where the monkeys were from, the pair were taken to the Jinshanwei police station for further questioning.
There the couple allegedly told the police that they captured the monkeys on Sheshan Mountain in Shanghai this August, while they were travelling in the area, and decided to take the protected animals home as pets.
The two monkeys, which were dressed in tiny custom clothing and are about 40 centimeters in length, were later identified by animal experts as rhesus monkeys, police said.
The monkeys have been handed over to authorities in charge of animal protection, police told Shanghai Daily.
