Both children and adults have been attacked, scratched or bitten in recent weeks… Since the beginning of July, 42 people have been injured by stray macaques in the city of Yamaguchi (western Japan). These attacks are of unusual proportions, forcing local authorities to resort to subcutaneous weapons to calm them down.
Macaques are widespread in the Japanese archipelago, where they are sometimes found to be a nuisance, snooping around in houses or raiding crops. But it’s rare for these little monkeys to attack humans directly. Both children and adults have been attacked, scratched or bitten in Yamaguchi in recent weeks.
No macaques caught
“The whole city of Yamaguchi is surrounded by mountains, so it’s not uncommon to come across monkeys there,” a city official told AFP on Monday. “But it’s rare to see so many attacks in such a short space of time,” he agreed. “Initially, only children and women were attacked. But lately, the elderly and adult males have also been targeted. »
Local authorities have been patrolling since the first attacks around July 8, but have so far not caught any macaques. They don’t know if this is a particularly aggressive isolated group or if it is a behavior that is widespread among these primates.
These incidents made headlines in the Japanese media, extensively citing victims of Yamaguchi residents. “I heard crying downstairs so I rushed there. And then I saw a monkey that had climbed onto my child,” a father recently told the Mainichi newspaper.