Monkeys take over Thai city

Menacing monkeys ravage city - 13th July 2020

Residents are having to hide indoors as rival ‘gangs’ of menacing macaques fight in the streets of Lopburi, Thailand.

The ancient city is home to thousands of longtail macaques which were a huge tourist draw before the Coronavirus lockdown. Citizens tolerated the primates’ behaviour as they attracted high numbers of tourists, happy to pay to feed the monkeys bananas and pose for selfies. But without the visitors, the hungry monkeys have turned violent, attacking people, and becoming increasingly desperate in their search for food.

Some residents have started feeding them junk food, in an attempt to keep the peace. However, many think the sugary diet has resulted in the primates having more energy and breeding more quickly, making the problem worse.

The fearless primates race around the streets around Prang Sam Yod temple in the centre of Lopburi, climbing the top walls and ripping the rubber seals from car doors. The macaques have even taken over an abandoned cinema, as a cemetery. They collect their dead and bring them inside. Any human intruders are attacked.

Locals complain the smell is awful, and the fighting groups have created no-go zones within the city. The macaque population has doubled in three years to around 6,000.

The city is carrying out a mass-sterilization programme to try to bring their numbers under control.

Wildlife officers draw the animals into cages with fruit and take them to a clinic where they are anesthetized, sterilized and marked with a small tattoo. The department has a long-term plan to build a sanctuary in another part of the city, but that is likely to be unpopular with people living there.