Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

monkeywire - Monkeys swarm cake at annual monkey feast

monkeywire AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: The #1 source for news about monkeys and apes

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Carrie McLaren <carrie AT stayfreemagazine.org>
  • To: monkeywire AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Monkeys swarm cake at annual monkey feast
  • Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2001 12:32:32 -0500


AP Worldstream
November 25, 2001 Sunday

HEADLINE: Monkeys treated to cake at annual monkey feast

BYLINE: DAVID LONGSTREATH; Associated Press Writer

DATELINE: LOPBURI, Thailand

BODY:

A brigade of naughty, greedy monkeys descended from rooftops and temple walls to devour a special cake and other goodies at the annual monkey feast Sunday.

Terrorist attacks have put a brake on tourism in Thailand, but one wouldn't have guessed that in this central Thailand town as more than 1,000 foreign and domestic visitors watched the simian antics.

The event has been hosted since 1989 by local businessman and "Monkey King" Yongyuth Kitwatananuson, who believes the monkeys that have traditionally roamed Lopburi were behind his family's good fortune. So each year is payback time. For the first time, he offered some 500 long-tailed macaques a huge, layered and frosted cake along with mounds of watermelon, pineapples, vegetables, Thai sweets and soft drinks neatly laid out on tables.
Visitors from distant places shared in the mirth.

"We don't have anything like this in Finland, except at the zoo," said Eero Rautamaki of Helsinki. Arriving with a group of tourists in a bus, Rautamaki said it felt "like we were in the cage and they were watching us."

Lopburi's monkeys are given free rein, often to the annoyance of local vendors and residents as the brazen animals dart out of hiding places to snatch food and handbags.

The monkeys enjoy a religious connection in Lopburi, 112 kilometers (70 miles) north of Bangkok. They are regarded as disciples of Chao Pho Prakarn, a four-armed deity whose likeness is enshrined in the heart of the town.

On Sunday, security guards armed with slingshots kept the monkeys at bay until after the official opening ceremony. Then the macaques charged down from the walls of an ancient Buddhist temple and other perches to snatch the food.

In years past, the monkeys have been served American fried rice, special Chinese noodles, tomato soup, chicken eggs and banana bread.

--
Tech note: Email to my stayfreemagazine.org address often bounces, for whatever reason. If you email me and it comes back, send it to stay.free AT verizon.net



  • Monkeys swarm cake at annual monkey feast, Carrie McLaren, 12/04/2001

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page