HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s oldest zoo is seeking answers in a monkey medical mystery after nine animals died in two days, including three members of a critically endangered species.
Part of the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens has been sealed off and disinfected, and experts have been called in to conduct necropsies and toxicological tests, Hong Kong leader John Lee said in his weekly press briefing Tuesday.
Eight monkeys were found dead on Sunday, and another died Monday after unusual behavior. The deceased animals included a De Brazza’s monkey, a common squirrel monkey, four white-faced sakis and three cotton-top tamarins — a species listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
“Whenever we have any news, if there’s a new development, an announcement should be made as soon as possible, so that everyone can know about the facts,” Lee said.
On Monday, the government held an urgent interdepartmental meeting about the deaths. It said in a statement that another De Brazza’s monkey’s behavior and appetite were found to be unusual, requiring further observation.
But all 80 other animals in the gardens were in normal condition, it added.
Jason Baker, senior vice president of animal rights group PETA Asia, said the deaths raised concerns about a possible outbreak of a zoonotic disease such as monkeypox, which can jump from animals to humans.
“Monkeys in captivity are often exposed to pathogens that cause diseases that can be transmitted to humans, including tuberculosis, Chagas disease, cholera and MRSA,” he said in a statement.
He said the only way to ensure the well-being of animals and prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases is to stop confining them in unnatural environments.
The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens — the oldest park in the former British colony — fully opened to the public in 1871. It is a rare urban oasis in the downtown Central district of the financial hub which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
A Hong Kong zoo seeks answers after 9 monkeys die in 2 days
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A Hong Kong zoo seeks answers after 9 monkeys die in 2 days
Second doctor in Matthew Perry overdose case sentenced to home confinement
- Dr. Mark Chavez, 55, a onetime San Diego-based physician, pleaded guilty in federal court in October
- Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett also sentenced Chavez to 300 hours of community service
LOS ANGELES: A second California doctor was sentenced on Tuesday to eight months of home confinement for illegally supplying “Friends” star Matthew Perry with ketamine, the powerful sedative that caused the actor’s fatal drug overdose in a hot tub in 2023.
Dr. Mark Chavez, 55, a onetime San Diego-based physician, pleaded guilty in federal court in October to a single felony count of conspiracy to distribute the prescription anesthetic and surrendered his medical license in November.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett also sentenced Chavez to 300 hours of community service. As part of his plea agreement, Chavez admitted to selling ketamine to another physician Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 44, who in turn supplied the drug to Perry, though not the dose that ultimately killed the performer. Plasencia, who pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful drug distribution, was sentenced earlier this month to 2 1/2 years behind bars.
He and Chavez were the first two of five people convicted in connection with Perry’s ketamine-induced death to be sent off to prison.
The three others scheduled to be sentenced in the coming weeks — Jasveen Sangha, 42, a drug dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen;” a go-between dealer Erik Fleming, 56; and Perry’s former personal assistant, Iwamasa, 60.
Sangha admitted to supplying the ketamine dose that killed Perry, and Iwamasa acknowledged injecting Perry with it. It was Iwamasa who later found Perry, aged 54, face down and lifeless, in the jacuzzi of his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023.
An autopsy report concluded the actor died from the acute effects of ketamine,” which combined with other factors in causing him to lose consciousness and drown.
Perry had publicly acknowledged decades of substance abuse, including the years he starred as Chandler Bing on the hit 1990s NBC television series “Friends.”
According to federal law enforcement officials, Perry had been receiving ketamine infusions for treatment of depression and anxiety at a clinic where he became addicted to the drug.
When doctors there refused to increase his dosage, he turned to unscrupulous providers elsewhere willing to exploit Perry’s drug dependency as a way to make quick money, authorities said. Ketamine is a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic properties that is sometimes prescribed to treat depression and other psychiatric disorders. It also has seen widespread abuse as an illicit party drug.
