Why do macaque wounding incidents occur frequently in Qianling Mountain, Guiyang?


　　 Garden: Two-pronged approach to persuade tourists to drive away macaques. Expert: No feeding is a priority

　　Relevant statistics show that there are about 1,200 macaques in Guiyang Qianlingshan Park, which is seriously exceeding the standard.

On October 14, a reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily learned from the Qianlingshan Park Management Office that when the weather is good, more than a dozen macaque incidents occur every day in the park. In response to wild macaque injuries, the park has arranged staff to persuade tourists to stay away from macaques. , And at the same time disperse the macaques to prevent them from hurting people; in view of the excessive number of macaques in the park, the park will also scientifically conduct artificial diversion.

　　Only one month in September

　　194 tourists were bitten by macaques

　　On October 13, a small seminar on how to manage wild macaques was held in Qianlingshan Park.

According to local media reports, relevant statistics show that in 2019, there were a total of 5,811 incidents of macaque wounding in Qianlingshan Park.

Since January this year, apart from the closure of the park for a period of time due to the epidemic, a total of 2,147 complaints about tourists being bitten by macaques have been received. In September, 194 tourists were bitten by macaques.

　　In June of this year, a two or three-year-old girl was watching macaques in Qianlingshan Park. She brought food to feed the macaques by herself. The macaque took her hand and took a bite. Then, the girl cried and was taken away by her family.

　　On August 24 this year, the netizen "Xiao Xiangzi" was also scratched by macaques in Qianlingshan Park. Unlike the girl mentioned above, she did not actively feed the macaques.

On October 14, netizen "Xiao Xiangzi" told the Beijing Youth Daily that she did not bring food or drink into the park. When she encountered a group of macaques on the hillside next to Qilin Cave, the macaques were not interested in them at first.

At that time, a monkey lover carried a backpack and a cloth bag to feed the macaques, and declared to the surrounding tourists that "monkeys are gentle and will not attack people." At the same time, they stuffed the surrounding tourists with food and encouraged other tourists to feed together.

"The monkey lover turned his head and saw me squatting on the ground to take a picture. He also stuffed my hand with food. When I stuffed the first one, a macaque closer to me took it away, and then a few more came around. After the second one was taken away, the macaque that did not get it immediately attacked me, scratching my forehead to my lips."

　　After getting up, "Xiao Xiangzi" found multiple scratched blood marks on his face, the longest one was more than ten centimeters.

"Then I went down the mountain to the park management office, and under the guidance of the staff, I washed my face with soap and water, and then the staff disinfected me with iodophor and alcohol. After returning to the hotel, I was worried and went to the hospital for a checkup and was given a rabies vaccine. And tetanus needle."

　　Garden party

　　Take various measures such as monitoring, prompting, and driving

　　The staff of Qianlingshan Park Management Office told the reporter of Beiqing Daily that when the weather is good, the activities of macaques are more active, and there are more than a dozen macaque wounding incidents in the park every day.

When receiving reports of macaque injuries, the garden staff will carry out emergency treatment.

"The park has medicine to debride the wounds of injured tourists, and then decide whether tourists need to go to the hospital for rabies vaccine based on the condition of the wound."

　　According to the staff, after the macaque wounding incident, the park will check and monitor to see if the macaque actively injured the macaque or if the tourist teased the macaque or subjectively injured the macaque and was retaliated against. If the cost of the vaccine is the latter, the park will generally not be reimbursed.

　　According to the staff, the macaques in Qianlingshan Park are wild and are not kept in captivity in the park. They may appear anytime and anywhere in the park, not only in the park, but also in other places in Guiyang.

“We can’t tell visitors which area of ​​the park does not have macaques. In order to reduce macaque injury incidents, we set up reminders along the tour route, and broadcast loudspeakers in a loop to persuade tourists not to feed, tease, approach macaques and use them. Related photos of macaques hurting people are promoted to remind tourists that macaques may hurt people."

　　It is understood that macaques are listed as national secondary protected animals in the "National Key Protected Wildlife List", and the park must also consider protecting them while managing them.

The staff of the Qianlingshan Park Management Office said that the security guards of the park not only discourage tourists from close contact with macaques when patrolling the park, macaques are found in crowded roads. In order to prevent them from getting too close to tourists, they will also use empty slingshots to drive them away. , Just pull the slingshot to make the rubber band make a sound and bluff, and it won't actually shoot the projectile to injure the macaque.

　　expert

　　Artificial feeding is not love but harm to macaques

　　According to local media reports, at the seminar on the 13th, some wildlife experts believed that the number of wild macaques in Qianlingshan Park should be limited to 400-500. However, based on field investigations, it was preliminarily determined that there are actually wild macaques in the park. The number is about 1200, far exceeding the optimal value for the park to accommodate wild macaques.

In the next step, it is recommended to carry out manual control and scientific diversion, otherwise the number of macaques will further increase, and incidents that harm tourists will also increase.

　　Ran Jingcheng, a researcher at the Guizhou Wildlife and Forest Plant Management Station who participated in the seminar, told the Beiqing Daily reporter, “After close contact with people, macaques become accustomed to being fed. When some requirements are not met, they will hurt people. Because of being cast for a long time. Hey, macaques have also formed a conditioned reflex. Tourists who see food and backpacks will think it is food for them, and may go up to grab it, even if there is no food in the tourist bag."

　　Ran Jingcheng believes that tourists feeding macaques with biscuits, sausages and even chewing gum, these behaviors are not love but harm to macaques.

“Intimate contact with wild animals also carries the risk of spreading diseases. Keeping a safe distance is the best respect and care. This is also for the health of people and animals. Some tourists feed half of their food to macaques. This is actually It's not hygienic."

　　Ran Jingcheng said, “The macaques in Qianlingshan Park are actually semi-wild macaques. If you look at the living conditions of wild macaques in the natural environment, Qianlingshan Park should not have so many monkeys, but because of people’s feeding, they are gone. The pressure of foraging has also caused them to reproduce in large numbers. If in the natural environment, there will be competition within their populations, and there will be survival of the fittest, and strong individuals will have the opportunity to reproduce."

　　Ran Jingcheng also said that although the wildlife protection and park management regulations stipulate that tourists are prohibited from feeding wild animals, there are no specific penalties for penalties for violators.

In this regard, Ran Jingcheng believes that the relevant government departments should strengthen legislation on illegal feeding of wild macaques, allowing managers to administer the law according to law, and let offenders have some scruples.