On July 16, people in the Bai Truoc beach area and some areas on Ha Long Street (Vung Tau City) discovered many wild monkeys wandering around the streets. Worried that the situation would endanger the wild monkeys, the city government issued a directive to use food to lure the monkeys back to the mountains.
Authorities use food to lure monkeys back to the mountain (photo: Ba Ria - Vung Tau newspaper).
However, on July 17, the monkeys returned to the streets, this time in larger numbers than before. There were about 20 monkeys, the big ones were about 15 kg, the small ones were about 5-6 kg. Not only did they walk around the streets, but they also caused chaos in the residential area of Vung Tau City. They even went to the back beach area, up to the Chi Linh urban area, more than ten kilometers away from the mountain. The monkeys coming to the streets may be a unique sight, but this causes insecurity for the people living in the area.
Guitar when climbing, swinging on ropes (photo: Zing.vn).
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy (45 years old, Ward 2, Vung Tau City) said that early in the morning, a group of monkeys appeared in the residential area, they climbed everywhere, many jumped into people's houses, climbed trees, climbed onto roofs, and even stole food from any house that opened its door. Seeing them causing trouble, people just stood far away and watched, not daring to chase them away for fear of being attacked by the monkeys.
“The ward militia was mobilized to chase away and lure the monkeys up the mountain. However, when they saw people, they climbed trees and electric poles, and no matter how hard they were chased, they would not go away. This type of animal is close to humans but very aggressive. Although it has not attacked humans, its appearance in residential areas is a cause for concern,” said Ms. Thuy.
The leader of the People's Committee of Vung Tau City said that monkeys coming down from the mountain and appearing on the streets of Vung Tau is an unprecedented event. This person explained that the monkeys' presence on the streets could be due to hunger. In the past few days, Vung Tau City has been social distancing according to Directive 16, so there are no more people walking, climbing the mountain and feeding the monkeys as usual, so the monkeys are hungry.
Local authorities bring food up the mountain to supply wild monkeys (photo: Ba Ria - Vung Tau newspaper).
The representative of the head of the Vung Tau - Phu My Forest Ranger Department said that it is currently impossible to count the number of monkeys in the mountainous areas of Vung Tau City. And the fact that monkeys are increasingly appearing on the streets and causing chaos in residential areas is a matter of concern. Currently, forest rangers and local authorities are making a plan to drive the monkeys back to the mountains.
