PHNOM PENH, July 14 — The Apsara National Authority which manages Cambodia’s Angkor Archaeological Park has urged tourists not to feed monkeys, warning that doing so could alter wildlife behaviour and increase the risk of dangerous encounters.
The directive comes as local authorities and wildlife conservationists celebrate the birth in May of another gibbon in the Angkor Forest, the forest that surrounds the magnificent Angkor Wat complex and the Angkor Archaeological Park.
The park, recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), is located in Cambodia’s north-west Siem Reap province and now boasts a population of 15 gibbons.
“Absolutely avoid feeding or making direct contact with monkeys. Such activities can negatively affect the animals’ natural behaviour, make them dependent on humans, and increase the risk of disease transmission and dangerous human-animal encounters,” Apsara said in a press statement on Sunday.
The advisory is part of Apsara’s routine safety guidelines.
For decades, the authority has initiated programmes with the support of international wildlife agencies to protect sensitive wildlife in the park.
In 2013, the authority collaborated with Wildlife Alliance to release the first gibbons into the Angkor park. The project has since reintroduced four more pairs at different locations throughout the forest, said Apsara on its website.
Since their release, the gibbons have produced seven offspring. They are fed bananas, mangosteens, papayas, and other seasonal fruits by caretakers.
Cambodia Wildlife Care expert Nick Marx has urged visitors to the park to refrain from feeding, touching, or playing with wild animals, stressing that such interactions disrupt their natural behaviour and ability to survive in the wild.
He also warned against keeping wild animals as pets, as such practice poses risks to both people and wildlife and deprives the animals of living naturally in their native habitat.
The Angkor Archaeological Park spans approximately 40,000 hectares and is home to several rare and endangered wildlife species such as pileated gibbons, red muntjacs, silvered langurs, leopard cats, hornbills and the critically endangered Sunda pangolins. — Bernama
