TAZmuse7250: CL/1

https://tazmuze7250.blogspot.com/p/launcestons-macacquues-troop.html

Dear Councillors,

I write to share information coming to me regarding the city’s MONKEY COLONYin City Park and the rumour that is beginning to circulate that it is all about saving money in the final analysis. One figure being suggested is that it costs something like $4Million PA to maintain the Japanese Macaque Exhibit and that significant number of you are either usure or have come to believe that the city is not getting values for money.

So, it appears to be the case that the proposed ‘emasculation’ of the male snow monkeys, while purportedly be to do with mitigating against genetic issues, essentially it appears to be mostly about cost cutting and the ‘slow euthanasia’ of the entire colony as a consequence.

On the available evidence Bridie Slattery, the colony’s keeper cum carer has been doing, and has done an exemplary job in regard to her professional care for the colony – a gift to Launceston from Ikeda. As it now seems to be clear that the‘long game’ is to remove the colony altogether under the pretext of the colony’s wellbeing being compromised by their isolation – genetically and geographically . Deliberations about all of the matters that surround Council’s decision making has been going on in ‘camera’ and well away from the wider community and the ‘public gaze’ – the recipients of ‘Ikeda’s Gift’ which is concerning.

Taking all of this into account it appears as if the ‘Japanese Macaque Exhibit’s purpose for being’ has been lost sight of or never really a consideration. Is the exhibit’s raison d’etre to be:

An expression of Ikeda’s connections to Launceston in a way that symbolically underwrites the connection to Ikeda ? OR
An exemplar colony of Japanese snow monkeys in the Launcestonian Cultural Landscape with cultural implications? OR
A tourism drawcard and an attraction for children et al? OR
An educational exhibit with scientific research potential? OR
An educational exhibit with cultural research and story-telling potential? OR
For some other STRATEGIC PURPOSE??!!

THE EXHIBIT’S STRATEGIC PURPOSE FOR WHATEVER REASON IS UNDEFINED CURRENTLY!!

Thus, making decisions about the ‘monkey’s wellbeing’ appears as if it is being made in a STRATEGIC VACUUM! This is a very poor policy and extremelyweak making position to say the very least!

Moreover, it lays a very poor foundation in regard to the exhibit, the city’s amenity, and Launceston’s placedness. Furthermore, making any kind of decision that impacts upon:

Firstly, the ongoing strategic relevance of the Japanese Macaque Exhibit;and
Secondly that impacts upon the Japanese Macaques themselves and their wellbeing; and
Thirdly that impacts upon the city’s marketing and the marketability of ‘the exhibit’; puts

the proposed decision making into something that is either ‘vacuous folly’ or something that is strategically misguided. In the vernacular, this is without a shadow of doubt … “not-a-good-look”!

Whatever is decided in the short term, on the available evidence, as likely as not will be a decision without:

Firstly, made without there being a purposeful strategic relevance in mind;
Secondly, without the benefit of ‘independent expert advice’ notwithstanding the keepers’ sound and credentialed advice – SECTION 65 TAS LOCAL GOV ACT;
Thirdly, the 21^st C relevance and purposefulness in maintaining a Japanese Macaque Exhibit given all the animal welfare, biosecurity and public health issues and risks – many of which seem to be seen as being of relevance by many Councillors.

As a concerned citizen I take this opportunity to draw these matters to your attention and to inform you of what I regard as the risks –obvious and unanticipated – you take in making an important decision in a ‘strategic vacuum’ without making yourselves aware of all the issues in the case ofsome/many!

The situation is what it is, and, in the end, you will need to plumb the depths of your moral consciences.

Regards,

Ray Norman

Polemicist,

Cultural Producer,

Cultural Geographer,

Researcher

Ray Norman

zingHOUSEunlimited

The lifestyle design enterprise and research network

PH: 03-6334 2176 … 0431 070 450

eMAIL: raynorman7250@gmail.com

Delamere Crescent Trevally TAS 7250

WEBsites:http://www.raynorman7250.blogspot.com

“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.” Thomas Paine

“The standard you walk past is the standard you accept” David Morrison

https://raynormanadvocate.blogspot.com/

https://raynorman7250.blogspot.com/p/zingconsult.html

https://ar7250project.blogspot.com/

We acknowledge the First Peoples – the Traditional Owners of the lands where we live and work, and recognise their continuing connection to land, water, and community. We pay respect to Elders – past, present, and emerging – and acknowledge the important role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within the research zingHOUSEunlimited undertakes.

Allison is 11 months old, lives in a Launceston park, and has been losing her hair.

Locals would be familiar with the 20-odd primates who live in the heart of the CBD but for the uninitiated, the monkeys were gifted to the City of Launceston by our sister city, Ikeda, Japan in 1980, in exchange for 10 wallabies.

Allison, an 11-month-old monkey at City Park, developed alopecia after roughhousing with an older monkey. Picture by Craig George
But if you've been to visit the monkeys in recent weeks you may have noticed one looks a little different.

A recent addition, Allison, lost her hair after a bit of roughhousing and developed a form of alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss.

City of Launceston primate keeper Bridie Slattery said Allison's condition wasn't too different to what humans experience.

Pictures by Craig George
"Allison is our 11-month-old monkey; she wasn't born hairless but it was something that developed when she was about six months of age," Ms Slattery said.

"Our two-year-old was starting to play a bit rough with her and similar to our bodies, responds to stress in different ways.

"She was still initiating in play but he would play tag and pull a bit of her hair out, so her body's response was to tell her this wasn't normal and she actually lost all of her hair after that."

Luckily for Allison, the condition isn't permanent and her hair has started to grow back.

Allison is expected to have most of her hair grown back before the peak of summer. Picture by Craig George

"She's got a very hairy chest and very hairy shoulder blades, and almost looks like she's wearing a pair of pants at the moment," Ms Slattery said.

"[Alopecia] can be quite rare, but we share 93 per cent of our DNA with this species, so most things that happen to us can happen to them as well."

While Allison looks different, Ms Slattery said she's still treated the same as the others.

Primate keeper Bridie Slattery. Picture by Craig George
"She hasn't been treated any differently whatsoever - being a young female, she automatically inherits mum's ranking," Ms Slattery said.

"She'll be under the protection of mum but they don't really see it like that.

"And apart from us judging the way she looks, she's 100 per cent healthy."

Ms Slattery said she expected Allison to be hairy again in a week or two.

"It's started growing back and it'll keep on growing; hopefully she'll have a full body of hair before the peak of summer," she said.
.........
Voice of Real Australia: Why are there monkeys in the middle of Launceston's City Park? By Bec Pridham May 25 2022 - 12:30pm

MONKEY BUSINESS: The Japanese macaques are a pride and joy of the Launceston community. Picture: Paul Scambler
In the heart of Launceston's City Park, in northern Tasmania, there's a wacky colony you'll inevitably stumble upon during a leisurely stroll - a monkey colony.

GO TO

https://tazmuze7250.blogspot.com/p/save-loonies-monkeys.html

https://tazmuze7250.blogspot.com/p/launcestons-macacquues-troop.html

Ray Norman

Polemicist,

Cultural Producer,

Cultural Geographer,

Researcher

Ray Norman

zingHOUSEunlimited

The lifestyle design enterprise and research network

PH: 03-6334 2176 … 0431 070 450

eMAIL: raynorman7250@gmail.com

Delamere Crescent Trevally TAS 7250

WEBsites:http://www.raynorman7250.blogspot.com

“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.” Thomas Paine

“The standard you walk past is the standard you accept” David Morrison

https://raynormanadvocate.blogspot.com/

https://raynorman7250.blogspot.com/p/zingconsult.html

https://ar7250project.blogspot.com/

We acknowledge the First Peoples – the Traditional Owners of the lands where we live and work, and recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay respect to Elders – past, present and emerging – and acknowledge the important role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within the research zingHOUSEunlimited undertakes.

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