Residents of Lopburi, Thailand, have been hiding in their homes after gangs of monkeys overran the town.
#Thailand – Thailand’s Monkey Town: Lopburi’s monkey population, doubled to 6,000 in the last three years, forcing authorities to start a sterilisation campaign. #AFP
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Macaques descended on the city after travel restrictions prevented tourists from supplying them with food, according to the Guardian. The change in the monkeys’ behavior during the pandemic has caused the local government to begin to capture and sterilize the animals. (RELATED: Bidet Company Will Pay $10,000 To Study Your Poop Habits)
“We live in a cage but the monkeys live outside,” Lopburi resident Kuljira Taechawattanawanna told the Guardian, “Their excrement is everywhere, the smell is unbearable especially when it rains.” The residents of the town have installed protective netting on their balconies and barricaded their doors to protect themselves from the monkeys. Groups of monkeys have also been fighting over food. Other residents display stuffed crocodile or tiger toys to scare the animals away, per the Guardian.
“The more they eat, the more energy they have so they breed more,” said Pramot Ketampai, the manager of the Prang Sam Yod temple and its surrounding shrines. Authorities trap the creatures in a cage and give them a special tattoo once they are neutered. Officials hope that 500 of the monkeys can be sterilized by Friday.
“We need to do a survey of the people living in the area first,” Narongporn Daudduem of the Lopburi wildlife department, said, according to the Guardian, “It’s like dumping garbage in front of their houses and asking them if they’re happy or not.”