Lawyers for Animal Rights alleged that the monkeys were “massacred” by men believed to be from Perhilitan and it was understood that only two of the monkeys from the same family survived the shooting that took place on May 19.

“We demand that Perhilitan investigate and prosecute every single officer who was complicit in this bloody and barbaric murder of these poor defenceless creatures.

“Failure to do so will result in immediate legal action,” Rajesh Nagarajan, from the NGO, said in a statement.

He said the incident was heard by nearby residents, who saw Perhilitan staff stuffing the bodies of the monkeys in sacks.

Perhilitan had supposedly acted on a public complaint of aggressive monkeys in the area but residents rubbished this, saying the dusky leaf monkeys were a shy species afraid to even approach humans.

When contacted, Perhilitan told FMT it would look into the claims.

Nurul Azreen Sultan, who had heard the gunshots and saw Perhilitan officers at the scene, said she heard a loud bang behind her house, which she initially thought were fireworks.

Ten minutes later, a neighbour went to her house and told her there were people shooting at the monkeys.

When she came out, the men were leaving the scene, she said.

“I saw three members of Perhilitan shooting the monkeys. There was one dead monkey stuck on the tree and another was running into the woods, leaving bloodstains on the ground.

“They even killed one of the babies. My neighbour was crying when she saw that happening,” Nurul told FMT.

She said it was not possible that the monkeys were aggressive as they never left their trees.

“Even if they were aggressive, other solutions should have been thought up. They should not have killed these monkeys,” she said.