Chunky Monkeys
By Thomas on February 12, 2010 | 3 Comments »
I’m always baffled that people feel the need to feed wild animals. This video shows visitors to Angkor Wat feeding wild macaques. I don’t get it. It’s not cute – it’s grotesque and horrifying. Obese monkeys waiting for their bananas by the side of the road. Although we are only showing one chunky monkey, there were several overweight animals which could barely walk. Stupid tourists, please get a clue.
Topics: Cambodia, Video, Wildlife | 3 Comments »
February 12th, 2010 at 10:18 am
This video infuriates me. I really wanted to go up and smack the tourists who were feeding these incredibly obese monkeys. They should know better. The sad thing was the little Cambodian kid in the video really seemed to love the monkeys. He even seemed to be integrated into the troop of monkeys because they would sit with him and interact with him like he was a monkey rather than a person. We tried explaining that he was hurting the monkeys, but he couldn’t understand how feeding them was hurting them. He was also making a living off of selling the bananas, so he had a vested interest in not understanding the damage he was causing.
February 16th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
I’m guessing that obesity doesn’t carry the stigma in Cambodia that it does in our overfed societies. In fact, to them it may signify prosperity and good fortune. And you’re still expecting tourists to care and/or think? Tony, Tony, Tony. Sigh.
February 17th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
I know this sounds defeatist, but at least the monkeys are being fed bananas. At Zion (in Utah) last year we saw people feeding the animals things like doritos, oreo cookies, and chocolate bars. I wanted to ring their necks. They were doing it not 2 feet away from a sign warning against feeding wild animals. There are some rules that are worth following.