A WARNING has been issued against feeding monkeys in Hong Kong following an increase in attacks by the animals.
Twenty-two attacks were reported in the first half of the year and just three days ago a woman was bitten when she tried to feed a monkey in a Tai Po car park.
The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries is considering legislation to ban the feeding of the monkeys.
Other options include contraception to reduce numbers, resettlement on an island in Hong Kong or sending them to a breeding ground in Guangzhou.
The department said: 'It is dangerous for visitors, especially children, to feed the monkeys because these wild animals can easily get aggressive and hurt people in their chase for food.' It added that the continual feeding could result in increased aggression among the animals as well as a jump in their population.
There are 800 monkeys in the territory, with 700 on Kowloon Hill, Tai Po Road, and experts are backing the call to stop the feeding so they will return to the forest and eat their natural foods - leaves, fruit and flowers.