PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Wild monkeys egged on by YouTubers have been rampaging at Cambodia’s famed Angkor Wat complex, attacking tourists, wrecking temple stonework and damaging information boards, officials said yesterday.
The agency that runs the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)-listed site warned visitors to steer clear of the growing gangs of “aggressive” macaques that live around the sprawling complex of ruins and have been biting tourists.
The macaques are native to the lush forests that surround Angkor Wat, but Apsara National Authority said human interaction – particularly by people filming content to post online – had changed their behaviour.
A small number of YouTubers regularly fed monkeys to create videos and this has “changed the monkeys’ natural behaviour from being wild animals to domestic ones that are aggressive and cause injuries among people”, it said in a statement. Some have reportedly even filmed themselves abusing macaques. Spokesman for the Apsara National Authority Long Kosal told AFP that as well as the danger posed to tourists, the agency was increasingly worried about the monkeys damaging the centuries-old stonework.
“On top of biting visitors, they have been climbing up and pushing stones down, damaging temples,” he said.
The agency has urged tourists to leave the monkeys alone while visiting the ruins, and said it is looking for “an appropriate solution” to the problem.
