Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
The main groups earning revenues from macaque-centered tourism were
hotel owners, the Sarn Pra Karn shrine and the associated Monkey Foundation,
Prang Sam Yot and the Fine Arts department, monkey-food and souvenir
vendors, and to a lesser extent some of the local restaurants and taxi drivers.
Interestingly, although bus- loads of tourists arrived on a daily basis to see the
monkeys at the shrines, there were no tour companies in Lopburi which were
responsible for these tours; they were all organized and paid for outside of
Lopburi. Therefore, much of the tourism revenue was not made available to
local people.
Resource sharing
All areas used by the macaques were used by humans, with the exception of
several buildings immediately surrounding the Prang Sam Yot shrine which
have been reputedly abandoned by previous residents and owners due to the
intolerable damage and nuisance from the monkeys. The overlap areas included
religious sites used for worship and tourism, people's homes, businesses (e.g.,
several restaurants and hotels), banks, a fire station, main roads, train tracks,
a school, and a market area, electricity and telecommunications cables, etc.
All these areas have suffered from some form of damage, ranging from direct
sabotage and destructive behavior by the monkeys (e.g., bending and ripping
of tin roofs, bringing down television antenna, and dislodging bricks from his-
torical ruins), to daily deposits of feces, urine, food remains, and rubbish. The
macaques were often seen drinking water from sources also used by humans
and they turned on and drank from taps around the town, which were shared by
street market vendors for washing food and utensils. They also drank from leaky
air-conditioner units and household water pipes. Additionally, they took drinks
from passers-by. A large proportion of the food the macaques ate was inten-
tionally provisioned by humans, but macaques also frequently snatched food
or bags from people and took food from unguarded food stalls and vehicles.
Provisioning
There were four main provisioning sites within the Old City. The first at Sarn
Pra Karn shrine, the second behind Prang Sam Yot shrine, the third behind
the fire station, and the fourth next to the rail tracks opposite the Hotel Sri
Indra. The majority of provisioned food was given at the Sarn Pra Karn shrine
(
Figure 5.2
). Here the monkeys got more food than could be consumed in a
single day. The food came from visitors who bought food to give directly to the
monkeys, from food donations given to the temple at Sarn Pra Karn to make
merit, and from food purchased with monetary donations made by shrine visi-
tors. At the provisioning site opposite the Hotel Sri Indra, food was provided
