(24 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lopburi, Thailand – 24 May 2024
1. Three monkeys in cage being put into truck
2. Various of monkeys in cage on truck
3. Wide of monkeys on side of building
4. SOUNDBITE (Thai) Patarapol Maneeorn, of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation: ++PARTLY OVERLAID BY SHOTS 5 TO 7++
“With the monkey’s intelligence, if some of them go into the cage and are caught, the others outside won’t enter the cage to get the food because they’ve already learnt what’s happened to their friend.”
5. Mid of monkey by road
6. Monkey in road eating
7. Monkeys on building
8. Monkeys on side of building watching
9. People with food
10. Monkey eating
STORYLINE:
A Thai town, run ragged by its ever-growing population of marauding wild monkeys, began the fight-back, on Friday, using trickery and ripe tropical fruit.
A number of recent high-profile problems with monkey-human conflict convinced authorities in Lopburi, central Thailand that they had to reduce their numbers, so on Friday they baited cages with the animals’ favourite food then waited for hunger to get the better of their natural caution.
There was early success for the catchers on one street with three of the macaques falling for the rambutan ruse and ending up trapped.
The cages had been placed on the street earlier in the week so the monkeys got used to them and found them less threatening.
There are thought to be around 2,500 of them running round the town.
The effort will go on for five days this month and then, most likely, will be repeated. Some of the monkeys will be left free to maintain Lopburi’s image as Thailand’s monkey town.
The roaming monkeys have long been a symbol of the town, 140 kilometres north of Bangkok, and are a major tourist draw.
But they’ve become increasingly aggressive. Several videos of them snatching food from residents and causing injuries went viral online.
One auto-parts shop now trades from behind wire.
The town’s mayor agrees the monkeys, while bringing in visitors, have also become bad for trade with shops and malls seeing a drop in income and even people’s homes damaged.
Things may look bleak for Lopburi’s monkeys but there is a plan.
On Friday authorities began sedating them to give them a health check, before cleaning and sterilizing them and inking tattoos so they can identify them and keep accurate records.
After that they’ll transfer them to a series of huge holding pens, just outside the town centre, while looking for a permanent home.
AP video shot by: Jerry Harmer
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