BANGKOK (AP) — Thai wildlife officials laid out a plan on Wednesday to bring peace to a central Thai city after at least a decade of human-monkey conflict.
The macaques that roam Lopburi are a symbol of local culture, and a major tourist draw. But after years of dangerous encounters with residents and visitors and several failed attempts to bring peace with population controls, local people and businesses have had enough.
The monkeys frequently try to snatch food from humans, sometimes resulting in tussles that can leave people with scratches and other injuries. But outrage grew in March when a woman dislocated her knee after a monkey pulled her off her feet in an effort to grab food, and another man was knocked off a motorcycle by a hungry monkey.
Authorities hope to round up some 2,500 urban monkeys and place them in massive enclosures, said Athapol Charoenshunsa, the director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. They'll work with wildlife experts to find a way for a limited number of monkeys to stay at liberty in the city, he added.
“I don’t want humans to have to hurt monkeys, and I don’t want monkeys to have to hurt humans,” he told reporters during a news conference in Bangkok.
An official monkey catching campaign was launched week, prioritizing more aggressive alpha males. It has caught 37 monkeys so far, most of whom have been placed put under the care of wildlife authorities in the neighboring province of Saraburi, while others were sent to the Lopburi zoo.
Officials said they plan to capture the rest of the monkeys once the enclosures are complete, especially those in the residential areas. Separate cages will be prepared for different troops of monkeys to prevent them from fighting.
Athapol said he expects the first phase of the operation to start within weeks, and believes the huge cages will be able to contain thousands of them and “will solve the problem very quickly.”
The monkeys are a symbol of the province, about 140 kilometers (90 miles) north of Bangkok, where the ancient Three Pagodas temple celebrates an annual “Monkey Buffet” festival, and they're commonly seen throughout the city. Macaques are classified as a protected species under Thailand’s wildlife conservation law.
Some have blamed the city's monkey troubles on tourists and residents feeding the animals, which they say drew monkeys into the city and boosted their numbers, as well as getting them accustomed to getting food from humans.
But an earlier effort to limit feeding may have made things worse, some residents say. Local officials began threatening fines for feeding monkeys outside a few designated areas around the main tourist attractions in recent years. But those feeding areas were dominated by a few troops of the highly territorial creatures, while rival bands grew hungry and turned to harassing humans in other areas for food even more.
Athapol said people shouldn’t see monkeys as villians, saying that the authorities might have not been efficient enough in their work to control the simian population.
People also need to adapt to the city’s monkeys, said Phadej Laithong, director of the Wildlife Conservation Office, explaining that a lack of natural food sources prompts the animals to find food wherever they can, including from humans.
Previous control measure have fallen short. From 2014-2023, the wildlife authorities neutered about 2,600 Lopburi monkeys.
Athapol said they are also working in other areas of Thailand that are facing problems with monkeys, such as Prajuab Kiri Khan and Phetchaburi. He said 52 of the country's 77 provinces report frequent problems from monkeys.
FILE - Monkeys eat fruit during a monkey feast festival in Lopburi province, Thailand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022. Thai wildlife officials laid out a plan on Wednesday, March 3, 2024, to bring peace to a central Thai town after at least a decade of human-monkey conflict. (AP Photo/Chalida EKvitthayavechnukul, File)
FILE - Monkeys eat fruit during monkey feast festival in Lopburi province, Thailand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022. Thai wildlife officials laid out a plan on Wednesday, March 3, 2024, to bring peace to a central Thai town after at least a decade of human-monkey conflict. (AP Photo/Chalida EKvitthayavechnukul, File)
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued near Houston on Thursday for some residents following heavy rains in Texas that stranded motorists, flooded streets and closed schools as officials warned that conditions in some hard-hit areas could worsen.
"This is a life-threatening situation,” said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the top elected official in the nation's third-largest county.
Storms over the past month in southeast Texas and parts of Louisiana have dumped more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) of rain in some areas, according to the National Weather Service. Of particular concern was an area along the San Jacinto River, which was expected to keep rising as more rain falls and officials release extra water from an already full reservoir.
Videos posted to social media showed tractor-trailers partially submerged and water flooding over roadways. More than a dozen school districts north of Houston canceled classes Friday because of the weather and shelters opened in some communities.
No injuries or death were immediately reported from the flooding. At least nine people were rescued from rising water, the Houston mayor’s office said.
Officials ordered an evacuation of people in an area along the river in northern Harris County, where Houston is located. It was unclear how many residents were under evacuation orders.
“We want you out of this area,” Hidalgo said at a news conference Thursday.
Farther north in Montgomery County, officials issued a voluntary evacuation order and said roads were closed because of flooding along the river. The area got about 5 to 8 inches (13 to 20 centimeters) of rain within 24 hours, with some spots getting as much as 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 centimeters) of rain, said National Weather Service meteorologist Hayley Adams.
The storm brought down trees and left vehicles stranded. It prompted the San Jacinto River Authority to close Lake Conroe and increase water releases from the dam that created the reservoir.
Officials asked that residents farther south along the river leave or prepare to be stranded by rising water for two to three days, Harris said.
The San Jacinto River is normally 45 to 50 feet (13.72 to 15.24 meters) above sea level, but is expected to reach 78 feet (23.77 meters), Hidalgo said.
The county opened three shelters for displaced residents, with a fourth planned.
Dawn O’Leary, a resident of Cleveland, about 45 miles (72.42 kilometers) northeast of Houston, was caught off guard by the rising floodwaters. “I was trying to get to work,” she said, but the roads were so bad that she could not make it.
Emergency management officials said the area could see flooding similar to that caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda, which dumped more than 40 inches (102 centimeters) in some locations in 2019.
This photo provided by the Texas Department of Transportation shows a truck parked as floodwaters rise over a bridge in Grapeland, Texas on Thursday, May 2, 2024. Heavy rains have caused flooding in southeastern Texas and officials in one county asked residents to leave. (Texas Department of Transportation via AP)
Drivers disregard a Conroe Police Department road block and travel down a flooded road, Thursday, May 2, 2024, near Sapp Road in Conroe, Texas. (Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Monica Pease surveys the damage of the office space inside her home, where she was working when several trees fell on it, collapsing the ceiling, during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Monica Pease surveys the damage to her home after four trees fell on it during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Monica Pease surveys the damage to her home after several trees fell on it during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Amanda Kovar and her daughter, Zoe, walk through their neighborhood in North Woodland Hills to survey the area after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A stalled car is seen in flood water near North Park Drive after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A fallen tree is shown fallen on a house during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A basketball hoop is damaged by a fallen tree during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A Houston firetruck makes it way through flood water in North Woodland Hills after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Nathan Duekero tries to unclog a storm drain during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Zoe Kovar walks through her neighborhood in North Woodland Hills to survey the area after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Traffic goes around a stalled car on Kingwood Drive after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Amanda Kovar, right, walks with her husband, Matthew, and daughter, Zoe, through their neighborhood in North Woodland Hills after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A truck drives through flood water in North Woodland Hills after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in the Houston neighborhood of Kingwood, Texas. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Summer Belson, left, and her brother, Steve Brown, survey damage from a fallen tree in Belson's backyard during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
An SUV is stranded in a ditch in a stretch of street flooding during a severe storm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Spring, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
