Monkeys terrorising village in Indonesia after building site forced them from their homes

Monkeys terrorising village in Indonesia after building site forced them from their homes

Dozens of wild monkeys are terrorising villagers after they were forced from their homes by a new hotel being built.

The long-tailed macaques have left their trees and been converging on the homes in the village of Lembang in West Java province, Indonesia.

Locals claim the monkeys are stealing food, clothes and pulling the tiles from roofs.

Footage recorded on Tuesday (July 7) shows the our-of-control monkeys squealing while running across the homes.

Another video recorded in the same area showed the creatures relaxing in a attic after taking over one of the homes in in the village.

Resident Tedi Kurniawan said: "We have never seen as many monkeys as this come to our village.

Sometimes one or two come, but recently they often came in groups." Neighbours say the monkeys are unpredictable and swarm the area in large groups, usually late in the afternoon or early in the morning.

Tedi said he was most concerned by the monkeys stealing food from shops and clothes from the washing lines while they are being dried under the sun.

The roof tiles of the houses are also often damaged because of the jumping of the monkeys.

Another worried local named Yanti added: "They come in lots, maybe around 30 to 50 monkeys each time." Residents suspect that the monkeys are leaving their natural habitat in nearby woodland after they are disturbed by the construction of a tourist resort.

Officers from the West Java Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) have been mobilised to investigate the unusual behavior of the wild monkeys.

West Java BKSDA officer Taufik Hamzah said: "It is necessary to coordinate all parties including the community around the forest area to determine what needs to be done so that the monkeys will no longer enter the village."