Authorities in Khanh Hoa Province in south-central Vietnam have yet to come up with proper measures to stem the spate of wild monkey invasions in Ninh Hoa Town recently.

Constantly rushing from the forest, hundreds of wild monkeys of Ninh Hoa Town are noisy, steal from local households, and attack poultry, according to the residents’ reports.

“They [the monkeys] have stirred up so much trouble that we’ve sought help from the authorities,” said local resident Nguyen Ngoc Tin.

There have been no reports on attacks on human but many locals are afraid that one will happen anytime.

“They are wild monkeys, if they bite or harm people, especially children, it is dangerous,” said Ho Xuan Thanh, another resident.

A wild monkey climbs the roof to enter a household to find food in Ninh Hoa Town, Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam. Photo: Hoai Bao / Tuoi Tre

Pham Ngoc Khanh, a local official, said that a company focusing on breeding monkeys for scientific research works raised the primates on some islands off the local coast many years ago.

A few residents went fishing and saw some baby monkeys swimming in the middle of the sea and brought them home.

Later, they found it unsuitable to raise the monkeys at home and released the primates at local mountains. 

Since then, the monkeys have proliferated in large numbers.

“Through preliminary counting, we estimate that there are currently about 200 monkeys of different ages,” Khanh said.

A local man covers a henhouse with corrugated iron sheets to prevent wild monkeys from stealing eggs in Ninh Hoa Town, Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam. Photo: Hoai Bao / Tuoi Tre

“Every day, from 7:00 am to 9:00 am and 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm, the monkeys will go to local houses or crops to find food. 

“Maybe because the number of monkeys is large now while the food source is little, the monkeys have rampaged through residential houses since the end of 2022.”

A primate expert determined that the monkeys in question are long-tailed macaques.

He advises the immediate solution is to provide enough food for the monkeys before competent authorities carry out a plan to relocate them.

Meanwhile, the local administration, who has yet to come up with a proper way to deal with the issue, advise residents to use loud sounds, instead of force, to drive the macaques away.

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