JAKARTA, Indonesia — Animal trappers have cut short the two-week rampage of a monkey that randomly attacked 18 people on Indonesia\u2019s Sumatra island, prompting dozens of schools to close in fear.<\/p>\n
The animal, an adult long-tailed macaque, wounded 18 residents of the town of Tembilahan, biting and clawing at its victims — most of whom it targeted when they were alone.<\/p>\n
Those hurt included children and elderly people.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs of today, there were 19 attacks, with 18 victims. One victim was attacked twice,\u201d Tembilahan fire and rescue service head Junaidy Ismail told AFP on Friday.<\/p>\n
Some required more than a dozen stitches and a rabies shot.<\/p>\n
The monkey was caught on Thursday in a trap set in town, and the rescue service issued a video on Friday showing it alive, seemingly stressed, in a cage.<\/p>\n
Town official Ari Syuria urged residents to remain cautious because the monkey could have operated as part of a gang.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe concern is that there may be other monkeys attacking people,\u201d Ari said in an Instagram post.<\/p>\n
Forty schools remained closed on Friday, with three days of online learning ordered for hundreds of Tembilahan pupils.<\/p>\n
Doors will reopen next Monday if it is deemed safe, the local government said in a statement.<\/p>\n
– Easy food –<\/p>\n
The monkey has been transferred to Pekanbaru, the capital of Sumatra\u2019s Riau province, where the nature conservation agency will carry out blood and observational tests.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to establish whether the monkey is carrying any diseases,\u201d agency official Ujang Holisudin told AFP.<\/p>\n
Human-animal conflicts are common in the vast Southeast Asian archipelago, especially in areas where the clearing of rainforest to make way for palm oil plantations is shrinking the habitats of animals such as monkeys, elephants and tigers.<\/p>\n
Puji Rianti, a biology lecturer at IPB University south of Jakarta, said some monkeys have also learnt to associate humans with food.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not easy to look for food in the forest… It is easier to get food by living near humans… by stealing,\u201d she told AFP by telephone.<\/p>\n
It was also possible that the rampaging monkey was a former pet released into the wild, Puji said.<\/p>\n
By Marchio Gorbiano, AFP<\/p>\n
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