We know that life has been disrupted for humans, but it looks like animals are also being affected.
The novel coronavirus has caused quite a bit of disruption and we’re all trying to manage. In some places, we have seen the closure of schools, restaurants, and fitness facilities, and people are being encouraged to work from home. Sports seasons have been suspended, large gatherings like weddings and parties are being postponed, and we’re all practicing “social distancing.”
But did anyone expect this?
In Lopburi, Thailand, hungry monkeys were filmed fighting over a single banana in the middle of the street. The monkeys are usually well-fed by tourists mainly from Malaysia and China, but with everyone hunkering down due to the Wuhan coronavirus, there aren’t as many visitors.
The thousands of wild monkeys in Lopburi live in two different “gangs” — one group lives on the grounds of the city’s ancient Buddhist temples while the other freely roams the streets. They normally keep to their own, but after the significant drop in tourism since the coronavirus outbreak began to spread outside of China, the temple monkeys wandered into the streets in search of food.
The primates are normally well fed by tourists in Lopburi, central Thailand, but visitors have plummeted because of the COVID-19 virus which is gripping the world.
The animals were reported to be part of two ‘rival gangs’ made up of the monkeys who dwell in the city and those from the temple areas who were fighting over food.
Footage shows hundreds of monkeys crossing a road and then chasing a single monkey which has got hold of a banana.
The problem is that there are so many monkeys and they’re behaving in a more aggressive way due to their hunger. At least, that’s what one bystander said.
Onlooker Sasaluk Rattanachai captured the scene from outside a shop where she works.
She said: ‘They looked more like wild dogs than monkeys. They went crazy for the single piece of food. I’ve never seen them this aggressive.
‘I think the monkeys were very, very hungry. There’s normally a lot of tourists here to feed the monkeys but now there are not as many, because of the coronavirus.’
These aren’t the only monkeys that are suffering. Tourism is down in Thailand by 44 percent which is affecting more than just the economy.
Primates living in a public park in Songkhla, southern Thailand, are usually well fed by visiting tourists from Malaysia and China.
Kind locals stepped in to give the monkeys fresh watermelons and tomatoes.
Source: The Daily Mail
In Thailand, there have been 59 cases of the virus with only one death. In nearby China, however, the Chinese government is reporting that over 80,000 have been infected with over 3,000 deaths. This is devastating to Thailand whose economy relies on tourism, with a quarter of those tourists coming from China.
