Bad apes to be neutered
The Star 8 Dec 09;
NUSAJAYA: Johor plans to neuter macaques “terrorising” four villages in Pontian in an effort to curb their population.
State International Trade and Industry, Energy, Water, Communications and Environment Committee chairman Tan Kok Hong said the operation would be carried out jointly with the Johor Wildlife Department.
He said some eighty wild maca-ques — or macaca fascicularis — had been terrorising villagers at Kg Bukit Panjang, Pengkalan Raja, Kg Melayu Pontian Besar and Jalan Ibrahim.
“We are taking the matter seriously as the macaques have been destroying crops and bothering the residents.
“We are going to neuter the males in an effort to curb their breeding,” he told the state assembly in his winding up speech here yesterday.
Tan said the Wildlife Department had set up various traps in the villages in order to snare the animals.
“So far, 38 macaques have been caught by the department. This is considered a short-term effort and we feel that the neutering project will solve the problem in the long term,” he said, adding that the department had also shot four wild boars terrorising the Pekan Nenas area.
“So far, the situation has been resolved. The state government is also encouraging people to hunt wild boars by allowing them to apply for hunting licences,” he said.
He also announced that RM30mil had been allocated to solve water woes in Sedenak by, among others, installing pipes from main tanks in the area to channel water to several housing estates.
“We want to ensure that water demands by the people there are met. We expect the piping work to start this month,” he said.
