When feeding monkeys = loving them to death

This article is from The Straits Times, Monday May 21.

Some people in this world feel for other animals but an act of a kind man can still be harmful to other beings. This is the case of sympathetic park strollers feeding stray monkeys. As form the title, ‘Loving them to death’ suggests that death comes indirectly for them. I feel that people always think that feeding the monkeys are no big deal—they may not be able to find enough food from the wild.

However, feeding of these wild animals will cause them to lose their ability for survival in the wild. ‘Survival of the fittest’. Every living thing knows that. The monkeys will become too dependant on the tasty food from the humans, thus making their life seem much easier for them. In fact they will turn aggressive and from the article, more than 100 wild monkeys had been run over while waiting for people to feed them. These monkeys even started to attack humans for food. Probably they thought that humans equal to food and every one of us are to feed them. This will be a big problem to people living close to these monkey territories.

These are the harmful effects that monkey feeders will cause and will indirectly cause the death of these animals. Although these people are feeding for the ‘good’ of the animals, I will still not follow suit. I feel that sometimes these people are only feeding them for fun, and most of the times those food are unwanted. This simple act can cause serious problems later on.

For the sake of the survival of the monkeys, I personally feel that the minimum fines for feeding them should be set much higher than $250. From the article, a man was feeding the monkeys despite standing near a no-feeding notice. With this amount of fines, people like him will take note of these signs and deter them from giving the monkeys food. In addition, small roads with usual sighting of hungry monkeys can be blocked out so that the chances of the presence of feeders can be decreased. This will also help them integrate back into their hunting habitat which will be beneficial for both the monkeys and the residents around the parks.

However, these solutions are easier said than done. As a student, I may not be able to suggest a best solution and may not be able to get the facts right. However, these are the least that can be done for the future.


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