Monkey business: Lopburi launches macaque roundup operation
Some 800-1,000 primates will be captured, sterilised, tattooed for identification and sent to monkey zoo in Muang Lopburi
A new round of capturing long-tailed macaques in Muang Lopburi’s old town kicked off on Wednesday in a bid to reduce the monkey population, which has become a nuisance to residents.
The operation conducted by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and Muang Lopburi Municipality will run until June 15 and aims to capture between 800 to 1,000 of the primates.
The project has already proved to be successful, with as many as 127 monkeys being trapped during the rehearsal on Tuesday evening when 1.8-by-15-metre cages were placed near the Manorah Market and the Chayowanit building.
These monkeys will be made to fast for one night before they are sedated and sterilised. They will then be weighed and tattooed for identification before being sent to a large caged shelter in the Pho Kao Ton area in Muang district.
The municipality strengthened the cages in the Pho Kao Ton monkey zoo following mounting complaints from local residents that the monkeys have become more aggressive and often robbed their food.
These complaints and reports of monkeys attacking tourists and locals for food also prompted the authorities to discuss how residents can live in harmony with the macaques.
The DNP advised the municipality to start rounding up the monkeys and shifting them to the zoo. The first round of operations from April 24 to 28 resulted in 288 macaques being captured and sterilised before being sent to the monkey zoo.
For the latest round, DNP has dispatched officials from several wildlife sanctuaries to help the municipality to capture the rogue primates.
