why the authorities see this as a problem

Cambodian authorities are investigating the abuse of monkeys at a temple in Angkor

Annebel146/Depositphotos

Cambodian authorities have launched an investigation into the abuse of monkeys at an ancient temple in Angkor.

Tourists who come to one of the largest Hindu temple complexes actively interact with local monkeys and film this process.

As notes The Associated Post, the Cambodian Office of the Superintendent of Angkor Archaeological Sites (APSARA), has reported cases of animal abuse.

In one of the videos, a baby monkey tries to escape from a man who holds the animal by the neck over a concrete tank and pours water over it. In another video, a person touches the genitals of a male macaque to arouse him on camera.

“Monkeys should live in the wild, where they should live, but now they are treated like pets. Tourists create content to make money by attracting viewers to YouTube, and for us this is a very big problem.” – says Long Kosal, spokesperson of APSARA.

Although abuse of monkeys is not always pronounced, APSARA, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, has launched an investigation, which will gather evidence for further legal proceedings.

The videos usually involve close interaction with the monkeys, which violates their personal space. Also, despite the ban on feeding, tourists bring food to the animals.

Monkeys that expect treats, but do not receive them, become more aggressive and dangerous to visitors.

YouTuber Ium Daro claims that he has never witnessed violence against a monkey. The man sees no problem in the fact that he earns a living by photographing animals.

“Monkeys here are friendly. After taking pictures, we give them food – it’s like a payment for the fact that the animals give themselves the opportunity to be photographed.” he says.

Another content maker on YouTube said that the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to film monkeys. Then, due to a sharp decrease in the number of tourists, his previous work stopped bringing enough income to live on.

We used to wrotethat the petition on the creation of the Zoo Police gathered the required number of votes.

Anna Kovalenko, “UP. Life”