A pensioner has been bitten to death by a wild monkey after it entered his home and launched a vicious attack.
Chaiphum Sae-eung, 63, was found dead in his house in Yala province, southern Thailand, with dozens of bite marks and scratches, according to reports.
The animal had been terrorising local residents in the run-up to the killing and had already bitten Mr Sae-eung on the shoulder ten days before its final attack.
Villagers said the animal had been aggressively roaming the area while trailing a female monkey. Reports suggest one family had already been forced to flee their home because of its behaviour.
Mr Sae-eung’s body was found by his nephew Pipat Sae-eung, who discovered him slumped against a wall surrounded by a pool of blood and still holding the metal rod he had used to try to fend off the attack.
The animal is thought to have repeatedly scratched him before biting off a chunk of his leg. The macaque is reported to have sat in the rafters of the home while police investigated.
Police major Jakkarin Laksana said a shoot-to-kill order has now been issued, according to The Sun.
“We speculate that he had been dead for around two to three days because his body was bloated and emitting a foul stench,” he said.
“We sent his body to Betong Hospital for a post-mortem examination. We do not believe any people were involved in the death.
“The monkey will be killed if it is seen. The danger that it could attack more people is too high.”
Last year, the Thai town of Lopburi, rounded up and sterilised hundreds of monkeys after the animals had become too aggressive after the pandemic.
The lockdown deprived the city’s 3,000 or so macaques of food scraps they would get from tourists and they quickly became unruly, swarming buildings, stealing food, and sometimes attacking people.
The “Monkey City” draws thousands of tourists every year and holds the Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival every November.
Under Thailand’s wildlife conservation law, macaques are classified as a protected species. Some 1,600 monkeys are reported to have been sterilised to reduce their numbers and aggression.
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