KUALA LUMPUR: A resident in Bandar Baru Sri Petaling here has complained about wild monkeys roaming the neighbourhood.
John Fong, 56, said for the last one month, the monkeys had been “living” with the residents and creating a nuisance in the area.
He said perhaps the animals’ habitat near the housing area had been encroached to make way for development.
“Not only are the monkeys frightening, they fiddle with the closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) installed outside my house.
“The CCTV footage showed the monkeys moving the camera and roaming on the rooftop.
“I had to called the maintenance personnel to reposition the CCTV.”
John said the monkeys also stole food from a vendor operating near the main road.
He was concerned about the hygiene of the neighbourhood due to the scavenging animals.
He urged the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) to take immediate action.
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Perhilitan director-general Abdul Kadir Abu Hassan said the department had deployed a team to the area to look into the matter.
He said the team set up traps, including metal cages, and placed food in them to lure the monkeys.
“We caught about 40 wild monkeys and released them into forests and parks.
“We are monitoring the situation. We believe the monkeys are still roaming in the residential area.
“We suspect that some animal lovers have freed the animals from the cages.
“Bandar Baru Sri Petaling is an area where a large population of monkeys live. That is why there is a huge number of them in the residential area. Their habitat may have been cleared for development.”