(CN) Hungry monkeys attack villagers

[Guest guest]

South China Morning Post

7th March 2003.

http://hongkong.scmp.com/hknews/ZZZHC3FOYCD.html

Shaken victims say more must be done to control feisty macaques

by CHOW CHUNG-YAN

 

Wild monkeys roaming freely in the New Territories are

attacking people, breaking into homes and stealing food as their population

grows and food sources dwindle, district councillors said yesterday.

Despite the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation

Department's (AFCD) battle to curb the primate population, the number of

monkey attacks in Sha Tin has reached 30 so far this year - six times more

than in the same period last year.

 

Sha Tin District Council yesterday called for the

government to take more action, saying the present measures were

counter-productive and ineffective.

 

Councillor Tang Wing-cheong said the ban imposed on people

feeding the monkeys had made them hungrier.

 

The monkeys then become aggressive and bolder in their

desperate hunt for food, he said.

 

" They usually hide in trees and wait for the housewives to

come back from the wet market. Then they will rush out and attack people and

run away with any food falling into their hands, " said Mr Tang.

 

" Some of them also break into houses and steal fruits on

family altars. They are hungry and are marauding across the neighbourhoods

for food. "

 

He said the rhesus macaques, which according to the

department mainly live in Tai Wai, have now formed colonies in Mei Foo, and

show signs of spreading.

 

Councillor Chow Ka-kong said he had been attacked by

monkeys near Mong Fu Shek.

 

" I was walking with some kids and suddenly a score of

monkeys rushed out and surrounded us. They then started to attack.

 

" We had to hurriedly back off. Luckily I had a walking

stick with me and I wielded it to keep the monkeys from getting near, " Mr

Chow said.

 

" It is very dangerous . . . imagine what would happen if

the kids were attacked. "

 

Mr Chow said he believed the angry monkeys had been

stirred up after they had been attacked by people with slingshots.

 

A spokesman for the AFCD, which has so far sterilised only

30 monkeys, said they would team up with the Hong Kong Productivity Council

to launch a large-scale monkey hunt next week. The council has designed a

20-metre animal trap.

 

The captured monkeys would be sterilised and released, he

said.

 

The spokesman admitted they had only 17 staff for the

hunt. The government was not hiring more people because of the economic

situation.

 

" If needed, we can ask for help from animal centres, " the

spokesman said.