Call of the wild? No thanks. Monkey refuses to leave Chinese couple’s home for life in the forest
Chen Yujun and his wife have released the macaque they call ‘Mountain Boy’ into a Sichuan forest 5km from their home, but it was at home waiting when they returned
A macaque has developed such a close relationship with a Chinese farmer and his wife that it keeps returning to their home – despite being released into the wild three times, mainland media reports.
The monkey – a medium-sized, long-faced, forest-dwelling primate that is protected on the mainland – was named “Mountain Boy” by Chen Yujun and his wife, after first visiting them at their home in the remote village of Gaochuanxiang in Sichuan province, while searching for food during a storm in October last year, the Chengdu Economic Daily reported on Monday.
Mountain Boy, who was only 10 centimetres tall when he first arrived, has now grown to a height of 60 centimetres after living with the Chens ever since.
They spend around 200 yuan (HK$240) a month – the equivalent of the family’s total living expenses – feeding him fruit and corn.
After caring for Mountain Boy over the winter they decided to release him into the wild. In March and again in April the couple took him to a forest about 5km away from their home and left him there to fend for himself. Yet both times, Mountain Boy was already waiting for them at their home when they returned.
“He looked like he was complaining to us [about leaving him in the forest],” said Chen Yujun.