VOA新闻杂志2024--Officials Plan to End Monkey Invasion in Thai City

Officials Plan to End Monkey Invasion in Thai City

　　Wildlife officials in Thailand released a plan on Wednesday to bring peace to a central city after at least 10 years of human-monkey conflict.

　　The macaques that live in Lopburi are a symbol of local culture and a major tourist attraction. But there have been years of dangerous interactions between humans and the monkeys. Past attempts to control the monkey population have failed. Local people and businesses say they have had enough.

　　The monkeys often try to take food from humans, injuring them in the process. Most injuries are minor¹. But two serious monkey attacks took place last month. A monkey pulled a woman down to the ground when trying to take her food. The woman suffered a serious knee injury. In the other attack, a hungry monkey pushed a man off a motorcycle.

　　Officials hope to capture 2,500 of the monkeys and place them in large enclosures, said Athapol Charoenshunsa. He is the director-general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. They will work with wildlife experts to find a way for a limited number of monkeys to stay 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 in Bangkok.

　　An official monkey catching² campaign was launched week. The officials' main concern is aggressive alpha males. Workers have caught 37 monkeys so far. Most of those animals were placed under the care of wildlife officials in the nearby province of Saraburi. Others were sent to the Lopburi zoo.

　　Officials said they plan to capture more monkeys once the enclosures are complete. Separate cages will be prepared for different troops of monkeys to prevent them from fighting.

　　Athapol said the large 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 north of Bangkok. There, the ancient Three Pagodas³ temple, celebrates a yearly "Monkey Buffet⁴" festival. Macaques are considered a protected species under Thailand's wildlife conservation law.

　　Some have blamed the city's monkey troubles on tourists and local people feeding the animals. They say feeding them led more monkeys to enter the city in search of food.

　　But an earlier effort to limit feeding may have made things worse, some locals say. City officials in recent years ordered fines against people caught feeding monkeys in several areas around the main tourist sites. But those feeding areas were controlled by a few troops of the highly territorial⁵ macaques. Competing groups grew hungry and increasingly sought food from humans in other areas.

　　Athapol said people should not consider the monkeys as villains⁷. He said officials might have not moved quickly enough to control the monkey population.

　　People also need to adapt to the city's monkeys, said Phadej Laithong. He is director of the Wildlife Conservation Office. He explained that a lack of natural food sources leads the animals to find food wherever they can, including from humans.

　　Past control measures have fallen short. From 2014 to 2023, the wildlife officials neutered about 2,600 Lopburi monkeys.

　　Athapol said they are also working in other areas of Thailand that are facing problems with monkeys. He said 52 of the country's 77 provinces often report of problems from monkeys.

　　Words in This Story

　　enclosure — n. an area of or for containment⁸ of something

　　alpha — n. a socially dominant⁹ person or animal

　　villain⁶ — n. an evil person

　　adapt — v. to change so as to fit a new or specific use or situation

　　neuter — v. to perform a medical operation to halt an animal's reproductive ability

1 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

2 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

3 pagodas   

塔，宝塔( pagoda的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A dream is more romantic than scarlet pagodas by a silver sea. 梦中的风光比银白海洋旁边绯红的宝塔更加旖旎艳丽。
• Tabinshwehti placed new spires on the chief Mon pagodas. 莽瑞体在孟人的主要佛塔上加建了新的塔顶。

4 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

5 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

6 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

7 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

9 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。