The case of the monkey called Kam Ying aroused strong public sentiment four years ago. She was a pet cared for by herbal medicine hawker Chan Yat-biu, who successfully won a special licence to keep her.
Now, Kam Ying's elderly owner, dubbed the 'Monkey Man', has died and his son, Chan Yiu-wing, wants to inherit the licence. Mr Chan's plea will also arouse public emotions. But we think a different kind of sentiment should come into play - the one behind the law stopping people keeping wild animals.
Keeping wild monkeys as pets is illegal in Hong Kong, for good reason. So the one-time exception to the rule that allowed Chan to keep Kam Ying should remain just that - an exception.
This might sound cold-hearted, given the genuine attachment that Chan had to his rhesus macaque. It may also be that his son shares some of that attachment to the animal.
But the 1976 law preventing individuals from keeping such animals was introduced to protect local wildlife, particularly endangered species. There are only about a thousand or so of Kam Ying's kind left in the wild around Hong Kong and the prohibition against trapping such animals to keep as pets or for any other reason should be a strong one.
Aside from the conservation issue, there are safety, public health and animal welfare concerns. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals objected when it was decided that Chan could keep Kam Ying and be given the first and only wild animal licence ever granted to an individual under the ordinance.