Hungry monkeys go to school for food

New Straits Times 1 Oct 09;

KUANTAN: Residents in several areas in Batu Tiga and Sungai Isap near here are living in fear as wild monkeys have been entering their homes and attacking their pets.

Over the past few days, several of the long-tail macaques have entered premises in Sungai Isap Perdana, including a religious school which has more than 500 students.

Sekolah Agama Rakyat Kafa Alif headmaster Rosli Ahmad said his staff panicked when a monkey entered the school's cooperative office at about 9.30am on Tuesday.

"We were scared that the animal would attack our students and tried to chase it out.


"However, it entered a bakery next to our school," he said at the school yesterday.

Rosli, however, said a man who came to pick up his son from the school managed to capture the animal before it was released in a nearby jungle.

"Just imagine what will happen if our students were outside the classrooms when the monkey was here," he said, adding that he hoped the relevant agencies would take action to stop the threat from the wild monkeys.

Rosli said the construction of a bund at Sungai Belat nearby had destroyed the monkeys' natural habitat and had caused them to wander into the housing areas to find food.

Muhammad Uwais Nordin, 11, of Sekolah Kebangsaan Batu Tiga, said a monkey attacked two of his kittens on the same day, killing both.

Several students also claimed that the monkeys had charged them on several occasions.

Mohd Abdul Muizzuddin Abdul Mubin, 11, said the monkeys had tried to attack him when he was walking towards Sekolah Kebangsaan Sungai Isap recently.

"They were very fierce but I managed to reach the school compound before they could attack me."

His classmate, Mohd Added Azeman said that he had used a stick to chase the monkeys away but most of them were not afraid of humans anymore.