Six men arrested for eating monkey in Vietnam and streaming it on Facebook

Suspects reportedly confess to violating Vietnam's wildlife protection laws

A gray langur with infant is seen at the Jaigarh Fort on April 10, 2010 in Jaipur, India. (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Six men have been arrested in Vietnam for allegedly eating a langur monkey and livestreaming the gruesome incident on Facebook.

Police said the men, aged between 35 and 59, broadcast themselves on a mobile phone eating the animal last month, according to the Straits Times.

The suspects were identified and arrested on Thursday, and have reportedly confessed to violating the country’s wildlife protection laws for “endangered and previous animals”.

"It took time for us to figure out the suspects involved," a police officer in Ha Tinh province told news agency AFP.

A police statement added one of the men bought the monkey from a hunter for 1.1 million dong (£38).

Although it is not clear which type of langur monkey was killed, all 12 species in Vietnam are under population strain, with five of them considered critically endangered, according to the Endangered Primate Research Centre.

It comes months after officials in Vietnam urged residents to avoid eating dog meat, as part of a move to eradicate rabies.

Hanoi's vice mayor Nguyen Van Suu also said that slaughtering dogs and cats for their meat was disturbing to foreigners and would "negatively impact the image of a civilized and modern capital".