Monkey business: Locals complain as Phetchaburi overrun with thieving macaques
Phetchaburi authorities are pushing for long-tailed macaques to be removed from the protected animals list because their population has been rising and they are becoming a nuisance for the locals.
Provincial governor Natthachai Nampoolsuksan visited the Phra Nakhon Khiri Park on Tuesday after receiving complaints that the long-tailed macaques living in the area have been disturbing locals.
Also known as crab-eating macaques, the monkey is a protected animal under the 2019 Wild Animal Conservation and Protection Act.
Macaques that live near communities often steal food, snatch bags and even bite people. This bad monkey behaviour has forced locals to keep their children indoors and put up steel fences to protect their property, Natthachai said.
The governor added that all eight districts in Phetchaburi province have between 1,000 and 1,500 monkeys, while in Muang district the monkey population may be more than 20,000.
Muang district is popular among tourists thanks to attractions like the Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park and Khao Luang Cave.
Natthachai said the province and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation have been trying to control the macaque population by spaying them, but this approach appears to be ineffective, as the monkeys breed faster than officials can keep up.
He said a special provincial committee on the monkey population has agreed to propose to the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to remove the long-tailed macaque from the protection list. This, he said, will allow officials to implement more effective measures to control the population.
“The protection list is meant to protect wild animals whose number is critically low, but the population of these monkeys is overwhelmingly high,” he said. “Furthermore, removing them from the list does not mean the macaques will be susceptible to abuse, as the Cruelty Prevention and Welfare of Animal Act is still effective.”
