The Royal Thai Navy and Khet Udomsak Sub-district neutered the first batch of 100 monkeys in Sattahip in hopes of resolving the area’s overpopulation problem.
Khet Udomsak Mayor Pairoj Malakul Na Ayutthaya and officials from the Chonburi Livestock Office oversaw the July 7 operation targeting long-tailed and southern pig-tailed macaques that live on Leam Pu Jao Mountain near the Royal Thai Marine Corps’ Prince Chumphon Camp.
The sterilizations were carried out at the Naval Transportation Department at the camp.
Veterinarians have begun neutering monkeys in Sattahip in hopes of resolving the area’s overpopulation problem.
The operation was launched after hundreds of the 2,000 monkeys flooded the marine base searching for food and water.
The monkeys would normally stay in the Pu Jao area and are often seen on the roads with passers by feeding them.
The Navy previously installed signs to discourage such behavior, but to little effect. Some of the monkeys would steal food left at the shrine of Prince Khet Udomsak and others would invade nearby villages, stealing from the homes of local residents.
The navy has tried numerous ways to prevent the monkeys from invading the base, like installing crocodile and snake statues, but it didn’t work.
More sterilizations are planned.
