Residents of Segar Road can breathe easy now, since the primate scourge that’s been causing widespread havoc in their estate has finally been caught by the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA).
It was about time, considering that the troubles with the female long-tailed macaque started since November last year. The terrorizing ape had been breaking into multiple flats in the Bukit Panjang neighborhood, stealing food, breaking shit and even biting people.
The monkey mayhem came to an apex last month, when the monkey attacked a 77-year-old resident — an attack that was bad enough to leave him in hospital. The injuries he sustained from being bitten required surgery.
In a Facebook update yesterday, AVA announced the good news: the exasperatingly elusive monkey was finally caught last night. According to The Straits Times, it took a group of five to six people from the AVA, Wildlife Reserves Singapore and the Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (ACRES) to nab the macaque. Five cameras were used in their strategic efforts to help the team monitor and learn the monkey’s movements.
Wildlife Reserves Singapore is taking care of the macaque now before its rehabilitation with ACRES. AVA also took the opportunity to remind folks that feeding monkeys is not cool at all, as feeding “alters their behaviour and causes them to become reliant on humans for food.”
