Nearly a thousand long-tailed macaques live in Lopburi, near Bangkok, Thailand. Volunteers care for the monkeys when they are sick or injured.© 2009 National Geographic (AP)
Unedited Transcription
It's estimated that more than a thousand long tailed macaques live in the town of Lopburi, near Bangkok.
Volunteers do what they can to help them.
SOUNDBITE: (Thai) Manad Vimuktipun, Volunteer monkey caregiver. "In my opinion, monkeys are the symbol of Lopburi. If the monkeys have skin diseases or are unhealthy, it will look like people here do not take care of them."
Manad mixes parasite medicine with bread and canned milk for the monkeys, because in the summertime, many of the animals develop skin infections caused by parasites.
Manad isn't trained as a veterinarian, so he focuses on what he calls preventative medicine.
Sometimes when Manad looks the other way, the monkeys open his bag and steal leftover food.
SOUNDBITE: (French) Saluatrice Di Natale, Tourist from Brussels, Belgium. "They come close and even climb on our knees or our necks. You can take photos of the monkeys. The contact with the monkeys is really special and enjoyable. Some are gentle and others are more aggressive. Some seem afraid although they come close. It's really enjoyable."
Manad's next stop is what is known as the monkey temple.
It is one of the few places in the world where monkeys roam freely next to humans.
The monkeys know Manad well and eagerly greet him.
Nearby, a volunteer veterinarian is skillfully giving a tranquilizer injection to a critically injured monkey.
She recently found the monkey in the town centre after someone had stabbed it.
SOUNDBITE: (Thai) Juthamas Supannam, Veterinarian. "The monkey is the symbol of Lopburi Province and many have been abused and killed. If no one steps forward to take care of them, there may not be any monkeys in Lopburi in the future."
Before she can return the monkey to its community in the town, she must be sure the monkey is fully recovered.
She first cleans the animal's wound. Then she carefully removes the stitches.
With the monkey asleep, she checks its teeth and gums, eyes and ears. She also checks its hands and fingers to see it doesn't have any broken bones.
She is patiently teaching her adopted monkey to climb trees.
When her pet monkey was three months-old, a Thai tourist found him for sale in a market near the Thai-Laos border and brought him to her.
The monkey's leg was broken and she put a plaster cast on it and treated it.
The monkey's leg is now better, but he still holds it seemingly to get her attention.
Unedited Transcription
It's estimated that more than a thousand long tailed macaques live in the town of Lopburi, near Bangkok.
Volunteers do what they can to help them.
SOUNDBITE: (Thai) Manad Vimuktipun, Volunteer monkey caregiver. "In my opinion, monkeys are the symbol of Lopburi. If the monkeys have skin diseases or are unhealthy, it will look like people here do not take care of them."
Manad mixes parasite medicine with bread and canned milk for the monkeys, because in the summertime, many of the animals develop skin infections caused by parasites.
Manad isn't trained as a veterinarian, so he focuses on what he calls preventative medicine.
Sometimes when Manad looks the other way, the monkeys open his bag and steal leftover food.
SOUNDBITE: (French) Saluatrice Di Natale, Tourist from Brussels, Belgium. "They come close and even climb on our knees or our necks. You can take photos of the monkeys. The contact with the monkeys is really special and enjoyable. Some are gentle and others are more aggressive. Some seem afraid although they come close. It's really enjoyable."
Manad's next stop is what is known as the monkey temple.
It is one of the few places in the world where monkeys roam freely next to humans.
The monkeys know Manad well and eagerly greet him.
Nearby, a volunteer veterinarian is skillfully giving a tranquilizer injection to a critically injured monkey.
She recently found the monkey in the town centre after someone had stabbed it.
SOUNDBITE: (Thai) Juthamas Supannam, Veterinarian. "The monkey is the symbol of Lopburi Province and many have been abused and killed. If no one steps forward to take care of them, there may not be any monkeys in Lopburi in the future."
Before she can return the monkey to its community in the town, she must be sure the monkey is fully recovered.
She first cleans the animal's wound. Then she carefully removes the stitches.
With the monkey asleep, she checks its teeth and gums, eyes and ears. She also checks its hands and fingers to see it doesn't have any broken bones.
She is patiently teaching her adopted monkey to climb trees.
When her pet monkey was three months-old, a Thai tourist found him for sale in a market near the Thai-Laos border and brought him to her.
The monkey's leg was broken and she put a plaster cast on it and treated it.
The monkey's leg is now better, but he still holds it seemingly to get her attention.
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