LOPBURI, Thailand (AP) — A Thai city plagued by the ever-growing population of marauding wild monkeys launched an offensive against the ape-like raiders on Friday, using trickery and ripe tropical fruit.
Several high-profile cases of conflict between monkeys and humans recently convinced authorities in Lopburi, central Thailand, to reduce the number of animals.
If all goes well, most end up behind bars before starting a new life elsewhere.
The first phase of the plan, introduced on Friday, is to stock cages with the animals’ favorite food, then wait for hunger to override their natural caution.
There was early success for the catchers on one street, with three of the macaques falling for the ruse and eventually falling into the trap as they fancied a taste of rambutan fruit. The cages had been put out on the street earlier this week so that the monkeys became accustomed to them and found them less threatening.
It is believed that there are approximately 2,500 monkeys running around the city. The capture of the unfortunate trio and about thirty others – who were trapped in other parts of the city – brought that total down somewhat.
The effort will last five days this month and is likely to be repeated afterward. Some monkeys will be released to maintain Lopburi’s image as the monkey city of Thailand.
But no one expects it to be easy.
“Thanks to the intelligence of the monkey, if some of them enter the cage and are caught, the others outside the cage will not enter to get the food because they have already learned what happened to their friends,” says Patarapol Maneorn from the Thai Ministry. of national parks, nature and plant conservation.
The wandering monkeys have long been a symbol of the city, 140 kilometers north of Bangkok, and are a major tourist attraction. However, they have become increasingly aggressive, with several videos of them taking food from residents and causing injuries being widely shared online.
One auto parts store now trades from behind the wire. The owners built it during the corona pandemic, but keeping the light-fingered primates out was also a primary concern. They say they have adapted to the monkey problem, but not everyone has.
“If there are many monkeys around, customers are afraid to buy the goods in the store. Only our regular customers are not afraid,” said Supaporn Tantiwong.
The city’s mayor, Chamroen Salacheep, agrees that while the monkeys attract visitors, they have also become bad for business, with shops and shopping centers seeing a drop in income and even people’s homes damaged. Lopburi, he said, is almost a “deserted city.”
“After our operation is over,” Chamroen said, “I will do a major cleaning of the entire city and paint all the buildings to regain the people’s trust.”
These may seem grim times for the monkeys in Lopburi, but there is a plan to give them a fresh start.
On Friday, authorities began sedating them to conduct health checks before cleaning and sterilizing them and inking them with tattoos so they can be identified and accurate records kept.
Then they will transfer them to a series of huge shelters just outside the city center in search of a permanent home.
