Park visitors say the macaques are bolder, more used to people
Feng Zengkun Straits Times 26 Sep 11;
THE monkey trouble here has worsened.
Last year, about 1,200 monkey-related complaints were filed, double the number in 2008; this year, as of last month, some 750 such complaints had been lodged.
Numbers aside, park-goers and people living near nature reserves here told The Straits Times that the macaques they have encountered have grown bolder; they steal not only food now, but also items such as cellphones.
IT security analyst Patrick Poon, 35, who jogs in MacRitchie Reservoir Park every week, said: 'They even sit in the middle of the trails and expect you to run around them.'
But the National Parks Board (NParks) said the number of complaints could have gone up simply because people are now more aware of which agencies to take their complaints to.
NParks added that some complaints among its number were not about the macaques themselves, but filed by those contesting fines for feeding these animals.
The agency, which handles macaques in parks and nature reserves, received 414 complaints last year. The rest of last year's complaints were received by the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), the agency which handles complaints about these monkeys in residential areas.
Dr Michael Gumert, a primate researcher at Nanyang Technological University, said the higher number of complaints could be the result of homes being built closer to forest fringes.
He said: 'The monkeys are not the drivers of change. They are being changed because every time a new condo opens on a forest border, they get 500 to 1,000 new people in their home.'
Park-goers told The Straits Times that the macaques in parks and nature reserves here are becoming more used to humans also because the rising popularity of outdoor activities has been bringing people right onto their turf.
NParks said efforts to combat the problem need to balance the needs of people against those of the macaques.
Last year, it launched a series of guided walks with the Jane Goodall Institute here to educate people about the primates. Six have been organised so far, for about 50 people.
Another move by NParks some years ago was the installing of rubbish bins with heavy lids in parks, to prevent the macaques from rummaging through them, but park-goers complained that children could not use the bins.
Two months ago, the agency introduced the fourth-generation, macaque-proof bin, with lids that open only part-way.
At Hindhede Road, which borders the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, complaints have dropped considerably after pavement railings were removed last year to prevent monkeys from perching on them. Pavements were also expanded so that residents and the macaques can share the space without frightening each other, said NParks assistant director Benjamin Lee.
But NParks stressed that the responsibility in this equation lies with people. Last year, more than 300 people were fined for feeding the macaques, twice that of previous years - despite the fine having been raised from $250 to $500 in 2008.
Ms Sharon Chan, the assistant director of the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, once tasked with managing the macaques here, said the creatures do not naturally like human food, 'but if people keep feeding them, they'll develop a taste for it and that's when the trouble starts'.
Macaques repeatedly caught stealing food or being complained against are trapped and killed by the AVA, which culled 127 of them in 2009.
