Getting tough on collaborators
FINES could be upped for those who feed monkeys, in the wake of a recent incident where a hoard of 15 primates grabbed food from a pregnant woman and her toddler at MacRitchie Reservoir Park.
The National Parks Board (NParks), which caught 151 people red-handed and fined them this year, could also increase its raids by roping in security companies to nab offenders, it said.
Such people are the prime reason monkeys get so used to humans that they approach expecting to be fed, said assistant director, Central Nature Reserve Ms Sharon Chan.
In the latest incident on Dec 15, housewife Petrina Chan and her 19-month old daughter were sitting at a gazebo in the parkthat morning when Mrs Chan pulled out a white styrofoam box of pancakes from her bag.
The long-tailed macaques, about 30m away, charged.
'They snatched at the box and tore a hole in it,' said Mrs Chan, 35, who was three months' pregnant at the time.
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