A suspect was sent to the Stung Treng Provincial First Instant Court recently for killing a Douc Langur monkey at Ta Lat commune.

Stung Treng Provincial authorities arrested the farmer, Na Yun, 35, for shooting the white-tailed monkey at Svay Rieng village, Ta Lat commune, Sesan district, in the province and confiscated an air gun.

Ministry of Environment Spokesman Net Pheaktra told The Post on Saturday that it condemned the shooting. White-tailed monkeys are an endangered species in Cambodia and globally.

He said there are about 20,000 Douc Langur monkeys living at the eastern and northern parts of the Mekong River in Cambodia. They are commonly found in Mondulkiri, Stung Treng, Ratanakkiri and Preah Vihear provinces.

Stung Treng Provincial First Instant Court spokesman Chhum Seanghak said: “The court is reviewing the case and I don’t know how the judge is going to decide. The court will make a decision on Monday morning,” he said.

In a separate incident involving storks, authorities have released two suspects who were arrested for trapping five rare birds in Kampong Chhnang province.

A forest administration official said on Saturday that the men were educated and signed a contract to stop trapping the birds and other rare animals. The birds were given to forest administration officials to be released at a secure place.

Kampong Chhnang city police chief Chhay Khemroth said two men were arrested after they set traps to catch the water birds on Saturday morning.

Khemroth said they confessed that after catching the birds they would sell them for 20,000 riel ($5).