The agricultural minister of cash-strapped Sri Lanka warned Wednesday that the country is considering selling up to 100,000 endangered monkeys to China, prompting fears among conservationists.

The toque macaque is native to Sri Lanka and is widely distributed across the island, however, it is listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list.

Sri Lanka prohibits practically all live animal exports, and the potential sale coincides with the country's worst-ever economic crisis. 

Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera told AFP that China wants the monkeys for more than 1,000 zoos, and divulged that he appointed a committee to study the request.

Monkeys are regarded as pests in Sri Lanka because they ruin crops, assault settlements in search of food, and even attack humans.

This year, Sri Lanka delisted many species, including all three of its monkey species, as well as peacocks and wild boars, from their protected species list, enabling farmers to slaughter them.

The Environmental Foundation, a Sri Lankan animal rights organization, criticized the proposed sale, claiming that there had been no statewide census of macaques in over 40 years and that a full population assessment should be conducted beforehand.

Number of monkeys considered between 2-3 million

Lawyer Jagath Gunawardana told reporters in Colombo that the foundation wants to know China's reason for wanting the monkeys.

"We want to know why they want so many monkeys -- whether it is for meat, medical research, or some other purpose," adding that "monkeys are not a protected species in Sri Lanka, but they are in the international red list of endangered animals."

Officially, the number of toque macaques in Sri Lanka is considered to be between two and three million.

According to Gunawardana, one cause of the growing human-animal conflict, notably with monkeys and elephants, is agricultural growth, which is diminishing wild animal habitats.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $46 billion foreign debt in April 2022 and was negotiating a bailout deal with the IMF to repair its shattered finances. The country witnessed months of lack of food, fuel, and medicine, extended power cuts, and inflation - which in turn has caused civil unrest and public outrage.

Months of protests during the height of the crisis pushed then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to depart the country and resign in July 2022 following accusations of economic mismanagement and corruption.

Read more: Iran allows Sri Lanka to settle oil debt using Ceylon tea