Species Use Database

Crab-eating macaque, Shixiehou
Macaca fascicularis

Used for Medicine and hygiene in China

A. Species

Scientific name: Macaca fascicularis

Common name(s): Crab-eating macaque, Shixiehou

Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Endangered


B. Location of use

Geographic location(s):

  • China

Country/Region:


C. Scale of assessment

Scale of assessment: National Level

Name/Details of location: China


D. Timescale of use

Start Year: 2005

End Year: 2007


E. Information about the use

How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from the wild but reared/cultivated in a managed site and Wild species born/bred and raised/produced in captivity or through artificial propagation

Type of use: Extractive

Practice of use: Ranching, farming or cultivation or wild species

Lethal or non-lethal: Non-Lethal

Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism

Purpose(s) of end use: Medicine and hygiene

Motivation of use: Largescale commercial exploitation for trade

Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law


F. Information about the Users

Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: National / local private sector


G. Information about the sustainability of use

Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from the wild but reared/cultivated in a managed site and Wild species born/bred and raised/produced in captivity or through artificial propagation

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This NDF Case study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Wild crab-eating macaques are abundant, though somewhat declining, in their native range countries, however, the numbers legally imported into China are not believed to be making any significant impact on wild populations. From 2004 to 2007, China imported 36,620 crab-eating macaques, and exported 12,244 crab-eating macaques.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: No, sustainability not determined

Details of assessment carried out: This NDF Case study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The management plan in place for captive breeding is intended to ensure economic sustainability, although this is not detailed explicitly. China Experimental Primates Breeding and Developing Society negotiates the export price of crab-eating macaques.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This NDF Case study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: This use of crab-eating macaques is entirely to support bio-medical research, used to justify this captive breeding.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: No, sustainability not determined

Details of assessment carried out: This NDF Case study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Because of the high cost in maintaining laboratory animals and animal welfare issue, many companies in developed countries want to move their animal experiments overseas, especially to the developing countries.


Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species

Most recommendations listed are actually only summary conclusions. However, the study does suggest that to carter for demand, those primate breeding companies in developing countries should be transformed into animal laboratories with experimental facilities, trained personals and advanced animal keeping and health techniques.


Record source

Information about the record source: grey_lit

Date of publication/issue/production: 2008-01-01T00:00:00+0000

Source Reference(s):

CITES NON-DETRIMENTAL FINDING CASE STUDY FOR THE EXPORTING CRAB-EATING MACAQUES (MACACA FASCICULARIS) FROM CHINA (2008).
By Zhigang Jiang, Zhibin Meng, Yan Zeng, Zhongze Wu, Zhihua Zhou.
NDF WORKSHOP CASE STUDIES
WG 5 – Mammals
CASE STUDY 5
Macaca fascicularis
Country – CHINA

Date of record entry: 2023-10-06