Chennai: Monkey addicted to processed sweets bites 38 people during withdrawl

[Emily]

http://www.newindianexpress.com/cit...n-South-Chennai/2015/09/15/article3028542.ece

[h=1]Choco-Addict Monkey Bites 38 People in South Chennai[/h]
By Express News Service
Published: 15th September 2015 04:05 AM
Last Updated: 15th September 2015 04:07 AM


CHENNAI: After four days of tough chase, a monkey that bit 38 persons, including 25 children, in and around Chromepet and Hastinapuram in south Chennai was rescued by forest department officials and volunteers on Monday.
The monkey had got addicted to chocolates and biscuits after a school-going kid in a residential area in Sembakkam began to feed it with those items.
?Once the boy began to regularly feed the monkey, it left its group and began to follow the boy. Since he was not in town for a few days, it went hungry and out of hunger, began to attack people,? said Nishanth Ravi, a wildlife conservationist, who helped forest department personnel with the rescue.
What?s more, the monkey isn?t eating even bananas or other fruits now, Nishanth added.
...
?It had gotten into many shops and created havoc. A child that had been bitten by the monkey now has fever. But the monkey doesn?t have rabies or any disease. In fact, when not hungry, it is very friendly,? Edison said.
The monkey has been sent to the Vandalur zoo where it is undergoing treatment. It will soon be released in the Tindivanam or Nellore Reserve Forest away from human settlement, mainly because it had begun to bite humans, Edison noted.
To avoid such situations in future, Nishanth said that people must stay away from feeding wild animals.

In a video about one of the recent escaped monkey incidents in the US, a similar reaction to processed sweets was described. The monkey was friendly to curious residents and even allowed them to pet him, (not recommended with any unknown animal, of course), until he got into an SUV and started eating a package of cookies he found there. That is when he started showing his fangs and people got frightened and called Fish and Wildlife.