GAUHATI, India (AP) -- Monkeys lurking at an ancient Hindu temple in India's northeast have attacked up to 300 children over three weeks, temple officials said Tuesday.
"They hide in trees and swoop on unsuspecting children loitering about in the temple premises or walking by, clawing them and even sucking a bit of blood," Bani Kumar Sharma, a priest at the Kamakhya temple in Assam state, said.
The temple, one of the most famous in India, is located in Gauhati, Assam's capital.
"I was returning home from school when a monkey suddenly pounced on me, scratched my head and hand and pushed me to the ground," said Jolly Sharma, a six-year-old girl.
At least 2,000 rhesus monkeys roam in and around the temple but none had shown aggressive behaviour in the past, the priest said.
Monkeys are often found in tens of thousands of temples across India. They are seen as a symbol of Hanuman, the monkey god, and devotees visiting temples often feed them. While occasional attacks by monkeys are not uncommon at temples, the sudden surge in attacks at the Gauhati temple has experts perplexed.
Some said the Gauhati monkeys may be turning violent because of shrinking living spaces, or because animals once kept as pets might not have been able to adjust to new lives around the temple.
"The loss of habitat due to increased human settlement in the hills around the temple and the release of monkeys kept confined at home...could be among the reasons for some of the monkeys behaving in a weird manner," said Narayan Mahanta, a wildlife official in Gauhati.
Three monkeys were randomly tranquillized by wildlife officials over the weekend and have been taken to the Gauhati Zoo where they will be examined in search of clues to explain the changing behaviour, Mahanta said."
GAUHATI, India (AP) -- Monkeys lurking at an ancient Hindu temple in India's northeast have attacked up to 300 children over three weeks, temple officials said Tuesday.
"They hide in trees and swoop on unsuspecting children loitering about in the temple premises or walking by, clawing them and even sucking a bit of blood," Bani Kumar Sharma, a priest at the Kamakhya temple in Assam state, said.
The temple, one of the most famous in India, is located in Gauhati, Assam's capital.
"I was returning home from school when a monkey suddenly pounced on me, scratched my head and hand and pushed me to the ground," said Jolly Sharma, a six-year-old girl.
At least 2,000 rhesus monkeys roam in and around the temple but none had shown aggressive behaviour in the past, the priest said.
Monkeys are often found in tens of thousands of temples across India. They are seen as a symbol of Hanuman, the monkey god, and devotees visiting temples often feed them. While occasional attacks by monkeys are not uncommon at temples, the sudden surge in attacks at the Gauhati temple has experts perplexed.
Some said the Gauhati monkeys may be turning violent because of shrinking living spaces, or because animals once kept as pets might not have been able to adjust to new lives around the temple.
"The loss of habitat due to increased human settlement in the hills around the temple and the release of monkeys kept confined at home...could be among the reasons for some of the monkeys behaving in a weird manner," said Narayan Mahanta, a wildlife official in Gauhati.
Three monkeys were randomly tranquillized by wildlife officials over the weekend and have been taken to the Gauhati Zoo where they will be examined in search of clues to explain the changing behaviour, Mahanta said."
This just in, Indian kids are being equiped with, and trained to swing baseball bats. The battle for Little-earth begins here!
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 2:16 am Posts: 1213 Location: Greenwich CT
Wait a second...does anyone have video of this? Because that sounds very funny. Indian kids being attacked by a temple monkey. I would pay BIG money for footage like this.
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