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[Carrie McLaren <carrie AT stayfreemagazine.org>]

Hong Kong Determined to Deal with Monkey Problem
Sun Mar 31, 9:06 AM ET
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020331/od_nm/environment_hongkong_monkeys_dc_3&printer=1

By Brian Walker

HONG KONG (Reuters) - There is too much monkey business in Hong Kong, 
and the government is determined to do something about it.

Packs of wild monkeys are invading parks and neighborhoods in greater 
numbers, aggressively begging for food and sometimes snatching bags 
from frightened passersby.

Occasionally, a brave one hitches a ride on a ferry across Hong Kong 
harbor to the busy central district.

Concerned the animals may pose a growing health hazard and nuisance, 
the government has begun testing a unique method to control their 
numbers.

It is implementing what's thought to be the world's first monkey 
birth control program.

Many animal rights activists say they are in favor of the plan as a 
humane alternative to trapping and killing problem populations of 
Hong Kong's long-tailed and macaque monkeys.

"We think that keeping a healthy population of monkeys in Hong Kong 
is very important," says Wong Che-lok, who is guiding the program for 
Hong Kong's Agriculture Fishing and Conservation Department.

"We hope that park visitors and monkeys can live together in harmony, 
and that's why we need to control the population growth of the 
macaques."

Wong said that monkey-catchers are trapping the animals in small 
numbers for now. They anesthetize them and inject an immunovaccine 
which sterilizes the males permanently, and makes the females 
infertile for up to five years.

Currently, several packs of the monkeys have been treated and 
released back into the wild under the pilot program. Wong says the 
government will begin a full scale program if the initial results 
prove effective in controlling the population.

GROWING OUT OF CONTROL

Some estimates show the monkey population in Hong Kong growing as 
much as 10 percent a year, far faster than what is thought to be 
sustainable.

There were 600 monkeys around the territory in 1992 when the first 
comprehensive survey was done. The population has doubled since then, 
and at the current growth rate is expected to top 2,000 within the 
next five years.

Wong says that would be too high for a healthy population in the 
limited areas available and something needs to be done immediately to 
halt the growth.

Two types of monkeys are currently found in the territory; 
long-tailed and rhesus macaques. Neither is indigenous to Hong Kong, 
although rhesus monkeys are found naturally elsewhere in China.

The rhesus monkeys are thought to have been introduced to their 
current Kowloon range just before the First World War. They were 
released by engineers who believed the monkeys would help keep local 
reservoir water safe by eating plants ringing the shores that are 
toxic to humans, but delicious to the monkeys.

The long-tailed monkeys are far fewer in number and are believed to 
be descended from pets released by local residents in the 1950's.

In recent years, the population has become a bit of a nuisance. The 
macaques are a frequent sight around Kowloon where many people feed 
them in the parks. But the monkeys have come to rely on handouts, and 
can become aggressive toward people not willing to feed them.

ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS PLEASED

The birth control program is thought to be the first of its kind in 
the world for a wild monkey population.

"What the government in Hong Kong is doing with this treatment is 
actually very progressive and we support it fully," says Chris 
Hanselman, executive director of Hong Kong's Society for the 
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Stephanie Boyles, a wildlife biologist for U.S.-based People for the 
Ethical Treatment of Animals said in an e-mail response that she 
hoped that other communities with monkey problems, such as Puerto 
Rico, could learn from Hong Kong's experience.

Officials also plan to change the monkey's behavior patterns.

They are passing out pamphlets urging people not to feed the animals, 
and are planting more food plants in the hills away from Hong Kong's 
urban sprawl to encourage the monkeys to learn to live