Lawyers Rajesh Nagarajan and Simran Kaur said the appellate court found that the High Court judge had erred in concluding that Perhilitan officers were legally entitled to kill the folivorous primates based on a perceived threat.
"The (Appeal Court) found that even if a threat had been posed by a single dusky leaf monkey, it was wholly disproportionate and unlawful to eliminate an entire group of animals", they said in a statement on February 26, 2026.
In 2024, the High Court had dismissed a lawsuit filed by Nurul Azreen Sultan and animal rights group Hak Asasi Hidupan Liar Malaysia Global, who had contended that Perhilitan’s shooting of dusky leaf monkeys at Taman Raja Zainal, Port Dickson, on May 19, 2021, was unlawful.
Perhilitan had previously denied culling 20 adult and baby monkeys, and maintained that only seven adults were killed. They added that the monkeys had acted aggressively and caused serious injuries in three separate incidents that year.
The three-member Court of Appeal panel, led by Justice Choo Kah Sing, observed that the scale of the killing was inconsistent with Perhilitan's statutory mandate to preserve and conserve wildlife.
"The wholesale destruction of the group was antithetical to that purpose", they said. And they added that the evidence did not support the contention that such extensive lethal action was necessary.
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and, noting that the proceedings were brought in the public interest, made no order as to costs.
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