Tuesday, April 28, 2009

A surprising sight: Monkey forages for food at Toa Payoh

A surprising sight: Monkey forages for food at Toa Payoh
STOMPer Shirley was surprised to see a monkey wandering around and looking for food at Toa Payoh Lorong 7.

This STOMPer says:

"New neighbour in Toa Payoh Lorong 7, Block 18."

"It is surprising to see a monkey in an old and mature estate like Toa Payoh.

"I saw this today(28 April) at 3.30 pm. It was searching for food.

"The monkey didn't look ferocious."

It's been a while since any long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) were reported from the Toa Payoh area; there were a few older posts on STOMP about macaques being sighted in the area. These are the ones I could find:

Monkey business in Toa Payoh (23rd January 2007)
Monkeys spotted in Toa Payoh (4th February 2007)
How did monkeys end up in Toa Payoh? (12th September 2007)
Are kids safe? Wild monkeys scurry around Toa Payoh playground (12th March 2008)
Monkeys eat Hungry Ghost Festival food offerings (11th August 2008)
"Monkeys in Toa Payoh turn hostile and snarl at me!" (2nd October 2008)

Given that the nearest forest reserves are some distance away, one wonders if these urban monkeys are of captive origin; certainly, it is intriguing that these monkeys are showing up in well-populated areas, far from any extensive forested areas. First we have a macaque in Pasir Ris, now we have another one in Toa Payoh.