Wat Phnom monkey troop captured and conveyed to forests

Eighteen monkeys living in the neighbourhood of Srah Chak and Wat Phnom communes in the capital’s
Daun Penh district were rounded up and taken to the Phnom Tamao Zoological Park and Wildlife
Rescue Center (PTWRC) to protect the animals and nearby residents.

The monkeys were taken away on December 6 by wildlife officers from the municipal Forestry
Administration in collaboration with animal handling specialists from the PTWRC.

Municipal Forestry Administration director Koam Seiha told The Post that in the past two years, the
number of monkeys around Wat Phnom has steadily increased and the small patch of forest around the
landmark was not productive enough to feed them all.

Faced with food shortages, some of the monkeys, especially the larger ones that have reached
reproductive age, were roaming the surrounding neighbourhood and would sometimes attack young
children to steal food and were generally being nuisances.

The PTWRC will keep the monkeys in quarantine for a period of time to make sure they are not carrying
any infectious diseases before releasing them into the centre’s forest habitat.

“We used anaesthetics and nets to catch the 18 monkeys and then we sent them to PTWRC where there
is ample forest land with food for them and they will have better lives there,” he said.

Seiha said many of the monkeys taken had gotten into the habit of invading people’s homes for food.
They are loved by the people living in the area when they are young and so they feed them, but when the
monkeys grow up and they no longer get free food, they begin to steal fruits, cakes, fish, meat and even
open cans of soda.

Koam Seiha suggested that the public refrain from dealing with the monkeys themselves by harming
them or setting traps to catch them. Instead, they should report them to the authorities when they are
disrupting their daily lives while trained professionals address the problem.

He said most of the monkeys in the capital do not live in trees, but on the rooftops of old buildings to the
south of Preah Ket Mealea Hospital, making it harder for officials to catch.

Prak Sophat, 42, a resident of Srah Chak commune, told The Post that he and the other villagers living
near the hospital were relieved to see authorities take the monkeys away.

“I was happy to see them catching the monkeys because some of them were vicious and would steal food
and even steal clothes that we were drying in front of the house or on balconies and when we tried to
chase them off with sticks, they’d jump at us and bite us. They are not afraid of us,” he said.

Tep Phally, 56, a resident of Wat Phnom commune, said some of her children were bitten by monkeys
and that they grabbed bread and ripe bananas from her children before because when the monkeys were
small, her kids used to feed them.

“Small monkeys are gentle and cute. But when they grow up they become vicious and dare to bite those
who used to feed them fruit when they were small. Two of my children were once bitten, clawed and
chased by the monkeys,” she said.
Tbong Khmum eyes eco-tourism
The Tbong Khmum Provincial Administration plans to transform the Boeung Kade multi-purpose area
in Kroch Chhmar and Dombae districts into an eco-tourism attraction while remaining committed to
preventing deforestation and poaching in order to protect and conserve its natural resources and
biodiversity.

Provincial hall spokesman Keng Bunna said on December 6 that things were still in the planning phase
and without any exact timeline.

“We will make the place attractive and build a road to make it easier for people to travel there. When the
water recedes, villagers can farm there until the waters rise again and we will then use it as a fish
habitat,” he said.

Kroch Chhmar district governor Soy Touch said district authorities are working to develop the area’s
infrastructure and amenities while improving its appearance.

They have already grown about 1,000 sandan (Garcinia loureiroi) fruit trees and 20,000 more will be
planted in the future. The trees were donated by Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and
Construction Chea Sophara.

“The planting of sandan trees is also useful for rehabilitating the flooded forest habitat. The people can
rely on them for making a tasty soup and they also become the flooded forest boundary posts,” he said.

He said the 2,000ha area will also be used for camping in tents, fishing and boating, while the farmers
around it benefit from use of the water from the lake for agriculture.

“We have a lot of work to do to develop the area and conserve it. We will plant some more trees that are
useful as medicine for the local people and fish and meat are very abundant in this area.

“We need to prevent crime and this year across Kroch Chhmar district we have cracked down on illegal
fishing using mosquito nets,” Touch said, adding that authorities had confiscated nearly 50,000m of the
insecticide-treated nets.

Dombae district governor Sok Sarith said on December 6 that his administration also plans to plant
sandan and Thai crepe myrtles (Lagerstroemia floribunda) as well as repair the roads to make it easier
for people to travel.

“We plan to plant 500 to 1,000 seedlings step-by-step. Now, we are growing sandan seedlings and crepe
myrtles trees. We plant them to have a natural forest area and to improve the place’s looks so it is
beautiful and attracts tourists,” he said.

Environment ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra said on December 6 that the ministry plans to set up
boundary posts in the multi-purpose area to clearly demarcate the boundaries to prevent encroachment
on the protected portions.

The ministry will also request that it be registered as state land so that it has legal protections and they
can then recruit rangers to protect the area.

“Forest ranger volunteers can be recruited among the people who live there who have the most
motivation to work to protect and conserve the area,” he said.