Monkey business drops in Thai city after community clamps down on critters

LOPBURI, Thailand — 

Marauding monkeys won't look slingshots anymore successful the historical Thai metropolis of Lopburi, wherever they person been rounded up and sterilized aft turning rampant implicit the past 4 years.

Before COVID-19 unopen Lopburi, immoderate of its 58,000 residents casually fed the 3,000 long-tailed macaques that lived alongside and adjacent threw an yearly effect banquet for them, drafting tourists to "Monkey City," a three-hour thrust northbound of Bangkok.

The macaques, believed to bring bully fortune, besides inhabit adjacent forests and person agelong been a portion of the city's history.

But aft Lopburi came retired of the pandemic lockdown successful mid-2022, its residents recovered that the monkeys, without radical feeding them, had go unruly.

Troops of macaques had taken implicit buildings, often confronting residents, stealing nutrient and causing accidents. Gangs of monkeys besides fought successful brawls, shocking locals. Some residents resorted to caging themselves wrong their homes.

"Their method is robbery — by each means," said Wisarut Somngam, a section researcher with Ecoexist Society, a non-governmental organization, wherever helium is studying the situation.

"They were acceptable to snatch thing disconnected your hands, immoderate bags they fishy incorporate nutrient oregon items similar mobile phones."

Small children, aged women and adjacent policemen carried astir slingshots to effort and scare distant the macaques.

Reuters journalists made fractional a twelve trips to Lopburi this year, including during the tallness of the monkeys' aggression successful aboriginal 2024.

As complaints mounted aft February, authorities equipped with slingshots and traps sprang into enactment to drawback the primates that had wreaked havoc and adjacent frightened immoderate residents into putting up metallic bars astatine their homes for protection.

"We person to cage ourselves inside, we person nary state adjacent connected the premises of our ain homes," said Jirat Buapromart, 54. "They are acceptable to bargain thing they tin from us."

Authorities seizure 1,600 monkeys

By May, authorities stepped up the propulsion against the monkeys, including boosting sterilization efforts that began during the pandemic.

"Our extremity is to neuter each the monkeys, 100% of them," section veterinarian Patarapol Maneeorn from the authorities wildlife section said successful September.

The monkeys would past beryllium enactment into a designated country wherever they volition beryllium looked after, helium said.

Five months aft the commencement of the government's campaign, Lopburi's primate pandemonium has yet travel nether control, with astir 1,600 monkeys successful captivity.

Some carnal rights groups hold with authorities connected neutering the monkeys, but not putting them successful cages.

"The monkeys are suffering due to the fact that presently they're successful a cage that is not designed for them," said Edwin Wiek, laminitis of Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand. "It's not due for them."

Wiek pressed the authorities to summation backing to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, which has unit trained successful carnal attraction and treatment.

Monkeys inactive gully tourists

For immoderate residents, the instrumentality of calm connected the streets of Lopburi is simply a relief. "Things person go a small easier due to the fact that astir of the monkeys were captured. Life is easier," said timepiece shaper Chalit Nithiwkram, 64.

Business was besides improving, helium said: "If determination were monkeys, nary customers would situation to travel by and parkland their cars here."

For others, Lopburi and its monkeys are inseparable.

"Monkeys are portion of Lopburi's identity," said Supaporn Reanprayoorn, 38, who runs a store adjacent a temple wherever monkeys often gathered. She sometimes gave them snacks.

"Let tourists instrumentality pictures with them — conscionable a 100 oregon two."