When confronted by a monkey, the instructions are: Do not look them in the eye, make yourself look as big as possible, then back away as quietly as possible without making sudden moves, a city official said.
This image from a video shows a monkey loitering around a home in Yamaguchi, western Japan, Saturday, July 23, 2022. People in the southwestern Japanese city have come under attack from monkeys that are trying to snatch babies, biting and clawing at flesh, and sneaking into nursery schools. The attacks — on 58 people since July 8 — are getting so bad Yamaguchi city hall hired a special unit to hunt the animals with tranquilizer guns.
“They are so smart, and they tend to sneak up and attack from behind, often grabbing at your legs,” city official Masato Saito said Wednesday. A woman was assaulted by a monkey while hanging laundry on her veranda. Another victim showed bandaged toes. They were taken aback and frightened by how big and fat the monkeys were.
One male monkey, measuring 49 centimeters in height and weighing 7 kilograms , was caught Tuesday by the team with the tranquilizer gun. It was judged by various evidence to be one of the attacking monkeys and put to death.No one has been seriously injured so far. But all have been advised to get hospital treatment. Ambulances were called in some cases.