Following Typhoon Yagi in September 2024, vegetation on Bai Tho Mountain was badly damaged, leading to a sharp decline in natural food sources.
A monkey climbs onto a car hood on Tran Quoc Nghien Street in Ha Long City (Photo by Le Dung)
Tran Thi Huong, a resident of Bach Dang Ward, said the monkeys had become a regular nuisance. “Before the typhoon, they only occasionally came near my neighbourhood. Now, they appear almost daily, especially on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month when many families place offerings in their yards,” she said.
On May 11 and 12, large groups of monkeys were spotted along Tran Quoc Nghien Street, a busy coastal road in Ha Long. Videos widely shared on social media showed them roaming freely and approaching moving vehicles.
“Around 9 am on May 11, I saw three or four monkeys in the middle of the road. As I slowed down, a male monkey suddenly rushed at me, forcing me to abandon my motorbike and run,” said Le Van Ha from Quang Yen Town, Quang Ninh.
In response to growing safety concerns, the Quang Ninh Forest Protection Department has captured and relocated a male monkey to a remote island. A ranger said further measures were being planned to reduce the monkeys’ presence in residential areas.