Ms. Thanh Ngoc Truc, a volunteer with many years of experience tracking golden monkeys on Son Tra Peninsula, said that according to observations, baby monkeys on Son Tra Peninsula have begun to change their behavior when following their mothers down the road to wait to be fed. If the authorities continue to hesitate in conducting research, the “golden time” to protect the monkeys will pass.
Ms. Truc suggested that it is necessary to start researching the establishment of a patrol team to punish the situation of feeding monkeys on Son Tra peninsula to act as a deterrent. This could create a strong propaganda from the tourists themselves when coming to Da Nang.
In addition, Ms. Truc also recommended that the situation of tourists carelessly throwing trash for monkeys to eat should be more closely monitored and managed; because this creates an unsightly image on Son Tra peninsula as well as ecotourism activities here.
It is very dangerous for monkeys to take food from children’s hands (Photo: Hoai Son).
Regarding the above issue, according to Mr. Phan Minh Hai, Deputy Head of the Management Board of Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang tourist beaches, the unit regularly sends staff to remind tourists on the routes or sends documents to travel companies, tour guides, localities, and schools to increase propaganda.
At the same time, the committee coordinated with the forest rangers to increase patrols and remind people and tourists not to feed wild animals fruits and prepackaged food when visiting.
Regarding the opinion that there should be sanctions for cases of feeding monkeys, Mr. Phan Minh Hai said that current decrees and circulars on wildlife protection only mention handling acts of mistreating and hunting wild animals.
Feeding monkeys is not included in this group of behaviors. Therefore, we can only remind and educate tourists but cannot impose penalties. In the long term, we need a fundamental solution to end this situation.
Da Nang City is assigning the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to study a project to specifically assess primate species on the Son Tra Peninsula. Through this project, experts will propose solutions to protect monkeys in Son Tra.