Authorities assist a tourist attacked by a monkey at Angkor Wat temple
AFP news agency on February 5 quoted Cambodian officials as saying that wild monkeys often attack tourists, destroy stone structures and damage information boards at Angkor Wat temple complex because they are incited by YouTubers (people who make and share videos on YouTube).
The Apsara National Authority (ANA), which manages the UNESCO-listed site, has warned visitors to stay away from "aggressive" monkeys that live around the vast site and have been known to bite tourists.
These monkeys normally live in the lush forests surrounding Angkor Wat, but ANA says human interaction, especially people filming them for online posting, has changed their behavior.
A small number of YouTubers regularly feed monkeys for filming, and this has "changed the monkey's natural behavior from wild animals to domestic animals with aggressive characteristics, stealing food and causing injuries to humans," according to the ANA statement.
Some people have reportedly filmed the abuse. ANA spokesman Long Kosal said that in addition to the danger to tourists, the agency was increasingly concerned about the damage monkeys were doing to centuries-old stone structures.
“In addition to biting visitors, they also climb up and push down rocks, damaging the temple,” he said, adding that the monkeys had also damaged information boards.
The agency has urged tourists not to touch the monkeys when visiting the monuments and said it was looking for "an appropriate solution" to the problem.
Angkor Wat, built between the 9th and 15th centuries, is Cambodia's top tourist attraction and a major source of revenue for the country. More than a million foreign visitors visited Angkor Wat last year.
Since becoming a world heritage site in 1992, Angkor Wat and the surrounding forest have been more closely protected.
Last year, the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced plans to conduct a survey of monkeys in public places, identify and relocate those that pose a danger to humans.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/dang-sau-chuyen-khi-tan-cong-du-khach-o-den-angkor-wat-185250205160708839.htm
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