Brian McDonald
Lopburi, Thailand — – A Thai town, devastated by its growing population of marauding wild monkeys, launched an offensive against the ape invaders on Friday, using trickery and ripe tropical fruit.
Several high-profile cases of conflicts between monkeys and humans recently convinced authorities in Lopburi, central Thailand, that they had to reduce the number of animals.
If all goes well, most will end up behind bars before starting a new life elsewhere.
The first step of the plan, instituted on Friday, is to bait the cages with the animals’ favorite food and then wait for hunger to overcome their natural caution.
Sakchai Lalit/AP
There was initial success for the catchers on one street, with three of the monkeys falling into the trap and ending up trapped because they wanted to taste the rambutan fruit. The cages were placed outside at the beginning of the week so that the monkeys would get used to them and find them less threatening.
It is estimated that there are around 2,500 monkeys running around the city. The capture of the hapless trio and around 30 other people – trapped in other parts of the city – reduced that total slightly.
The effort will last five days this month and will likely be repeated. Some of the monkeys will be free to maintain Lopburi’s image as Thailand’s monkey city.
A challenging undertaking
But no one expects it to be easy.
“With the monkey’s intelligence, if some of them enter the cage and get caught, the others outside the cage will not enter the cage to get the food because they already know what happened to their friends,” said Patarapol Maneeorn from Thailand. Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
The wandering monkeys have long been a symbol of the city, 145 kilometers north of Bangkok, and are a major tourist attraction. However, they have become increasingly aggressive, with several videos of them stealing food from residents and causing injuries being shared widely online.
An auto parts store now deals by wire. The owners built it at the time of the coronavirus pandemic, but keeping light-fingered primates away was also a primary concern. They say they adapted to the monkey problem, but not everyone did.
Sakchai Lalit/AP
“When there are a lot of monkeys around, customers are afraid to buy products in the store. Only our regular customers are not scared,” said Supaporn Tantiwong.
The city’s mayor, Chamroen Salacheep, agrees that the monkeys, while attracting visitors, have also damaged commerce, with stores and malls seeing a drop in income and even damaged homes. Lopburi, he said, is almost an “abandoned city.”
“After our operation is over,” Chamroen said, “I will do a big cleanup throughout the city and paint all the buildings to restore people’s faith.”
These may seem like dark times for the monkeys in Lopburi, but there is a plan to give them a fresh start.
On Friday, authorities began sedating them for health checks before cleaning and sterilizing them and tattooing them so they can be identified and keep accurate records.
After that, they will be moved to a series of huge enclosures on the outskirts of the city center while they look for a permanent home for them.
