Tokyo zoo may save monkeys' lives

TOKYO, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- The Ueno Zoo in Tokyo is ready to accept custody of nearly 20 macaque monkeys at risk of being euthanized for chowing down on farm crops, sources say.

The unidentified sources said the zoo appears set to house the monkeys facing a possible death penalty in Aomori Prefecture for causing significant damage to regional crops, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported Sunday.

While the simians are designated as national treasures in Japan, their destructive feeding habits led prefectural officials to request permission from the Cultural Affairs Agency to reduce their numbers.

The prefectural government was granted permission to capture and euthanize 270 monkeys before 2011, the Shimbun reported.

A municipal wildlife management office spokesman in the Shimokita Peninsula where the macaque monkeys live said a final decision on transferring the monkeys had yet to be made.

"We'll make a decision (about assigning the monkeys to the zoo) after confirming the breeding environment from the head zoologist," the unidentified spokesman said. "We think it's better to keep some of the monkeys alive than to euthanize all of them."