Fazleena Aziz The Star 11 Oct 10;
THE Selangor Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) has been in talks with residents of Taman TAR and Taman TAR Committee Care for the Environment and Wildlife in Ampang on the problem of monkeys and wild boars in the area.
StarMetro had featured the wildlife-friendly group, which has been feeding the monkeys and wildboars in nearby jungle for about three years.
Some residents are unhappy with the group’s activities as there is a signboard by the Federal Territory Perhilitan forbidding the feeding of monkeys and animals.
Selangor Perhilitan director Rahmat Topani said a committee would evaluate all the concerns by both the residents and group before taking action following a meeting held on Sept 29 with both parties.
“We have heard views from both parties and need to do a bit of research in the area.
“It was not advisable to feed the monkeys because they become dependent and their generation will face problems in finding food later,” he said, adding the animals might venture further in search of food from their habitat.
He said there are about 40 wild boars and 200 monkeys in the jungle.
Rahmat also spoke about the neutering programme by Perhilitan to curb the increasing monkey population in the Klang Valley.
The programme, at the pilot stage now, is conducted by the Biodiversity Conservation Department. It involves chemical castration and vasectomy done in a laboratory.
He said for Selangor, they would start with Bukit Gasing.
“It is not a simple task because we have to train our officers to do the job.
“We also have to look at the number of monkeys before and after the programme,” he said.
The number of complaints involving monkeys has reduced over the years.
Some of the action taken involved relocating the monkeys to other jungles and killing the aggressive ones.
When asked about monkey behaving aggressively especially with the recent case in Seremban involving a new-born baby which was fatally bitten, Rahmat said it was possible for the animals to become aggressive but was not able to comment on the tragic incident.
“Generally, if they become aggressive, it must have been provocated. This is why it is dangerous to feed the animals because they are used to it and will try to grab the food or even a woman’s purse,” he said.
