A Tokyo-based animal rights group lost a lawsuit aimed at stopping the transfer of monkeys from a Sapporo zoo to a research institute.

The Sapporo District Court turned down the suit filed by the Japan Anti-Vivisection Association, which called for a halt to the transfer of Japanese monkeys from the Sapporo-run Maruyama Zoo to the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University.

The zoo decided on the transfer to the institute, based in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, because the monkeys have grown to number more than 100, according to the suit.

The association said the zoo failed to take sufficient birth control measures, adding that the transfer would violate provisions of the Law for the Humane Treatment and Management of Animals, which calls on zoos to raise animals as exhibits for their entire lives.

The group also said that the transfer is against the purpose of zoos, which are supposed to protect animals.

The city of Sapporo said the best birth control measures have been taken and there is no other place to transfer them other than the research institute.