Monkey business
faces clampdown
There
is too much monkey business in Hong Kong, and the government is
determined to do something about it.
Packs of wild monkeys are invading parks and neighbourhoods in
greater numbers, aggressively begging for food and sometimes
snatching bags from frightened passers-by.
Occasionally, a brave one hitches
a ride on a ferry across Hong Kong harbour to the busy central
district.
Concerned the animals may pose a growing health hazard and
nuisance, the government has begun testing a unique method to
control their numbers.
It is implementing what's thought to be the world's first monkey
birth control programme. |
Packs of wild monkeys are invading
parks and neighbourhoods in Hong Kong, aggressively begging for
food and sometimes snatching bags from frightened passers-by.
This file photo shows monkeys playing near the Indian parliament
in New Delhi on January 9, 2001. |
Many animal rights activists say they are in favour of the plan
as a humane alternative to trapping and killing problem
populations of Hong Kong's long-tailed and macaque monkeys.
"We think that keeping a healthy population of monkeys in Hong
Kong is very important," says Wong Che-lok, who is guiding the
programme for Hong Kong's Agriculture Fishing and Conservation
Department.
"We hope that park visitors and monkeys can live together in
harmony, and that's why we need to control the population growth
of the macaques."
Wong said that monkey-catchers are trapping the animals in small
numbers for now. They anaesthetise them and inject an
immunovaccine which sterilises the males permanently, and makes
the females infertile for up to five years.
Currently, several packs of the monkeys have been treated and
released back into the wild under the pilot programme. Wong says
the government will begin a full scale programme if the initial
results prove effective in controlling the population.
GROWING OUT OF CONTROL
Some estimates show the monkey population in Hong Kong growing
as much as 10 percent a year, far faster than what is thought to
be sustainable.
There were 600 monkeys around the territory in 1992 when the
first comprehensive survey was done. The population has doubled
since then, and at the current growth rate is expected to top
2,000 within the next five years.
Wong says that would be too high for a healthy population in the
limited areas available and something needs to be done
immediately to halt the growth.
Two types of monkeys are currently found in the territory;
long-tailed and rhesus macaques. Neither is indigenous to Hong
Kong, although rhesus monkeys are found naturally elsewhere in
China.
The rhesus monkeys are thought to have been introduced to their
current Kowloon range just before the First World War. They were
released by engineers who believed the monkeys would help keep
local reservoir water safe by eating plants ringing the shores
that are toxic to humans, but delicious to the monkeys.
The long-tailed monkeys are far fewer in number and are believed
to be descended from pets released by local residents in the
1950's.
In recent years, the population has become a bit of a nuisance.
The macaques are a frequent sight around Kowloon where many
people feed them in the parks. But the monkeys have come to rely
on handouts, and can become aggressive toward people not willing
to feed them.
ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS PLEASED
The birth control programme is thought to be the first of its
kind in the world for a wild monkey population.
"What the government in Hong Kong is doing with this treatment
is actually very progressive and we support it fully," says
Chris Hanselman, executive director of Hong Kong's Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Stephanie Boyles, a wildlife biologist for U.S.-based People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals said in an e-mail response that
she hoped that other communities with monkey problems, such as
Puerto Rico, could learn from Hong Kong's experience.
Officials also plan to change the monkey's behaviour patterns.
They are passing out pamphlets urging people not to feed the
animals, and are planting more food plants in the hills away
from Hong Kong's urban sprawl to encourage the monkeys to learn
to live on their own.
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