29-year-old engineer Chris was shocked by how bold these monkeys at Forest Walk were, when they snatched a packet of yellow curry gravy from a passerby.
The STOMPer told STOMP about the incident which occurred last week (Jan 23) at about 1pm.
"The monkeys just snatched the yellow curry gravy from a person just enjoying a walk through the forest walk part of the southern ridges, furthermore making a mess of the place as it spills the gravy all over the bridge.
"Trekkers were scared and intimidated by the behaviour.
"Please don't feed the monkeys as it will promote aggressive behaviour to humans."
Yet another example illustrating why feeding the monkeys is a bad idea.
The long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) which are commonly encountered in our forests and nature areas may look cute and endearing, but they certainly can become a nuisance. Once they have learned to associate people with food, they soon find out that it is easy to intimidate, harass and bully people in an attempt to get them to surrender any edible items. Bags are stolen and ransacked, and one should never underestimate the possible damage a macaque may deal with its canines, not to mention the risk of disease transmission due to such close contact.
One does wonder; what on Earth was a person doing, carrying a bag of curry into the forest? The idea of an idyllic picnic in the woods is but a myth, and possible only in places where much of the larger fauna has been trapped, shot, and poisoned out of existence, or wisely chooses to hide away so as not to offend trespassing humans.
