One-legged macaque attacks people in HCMC, captured

By Dinh Van November 14, 2021 | 08:47 pm PT

A macaque with just one leg, which attacked several people in HCMC’s District 12, has been captured and sent to an animal rescue center.

The Ho Chi Minh City Forest Protection Department said Sunday the long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis), which weighs nearly 10 kg and has fangs three centimeters long, attacked three people in Thanh Xuan Ward.

It was first encountered by Luong Minh Tuan, 26, behind his woodshop on TX25 Street on November 11, when it bit and injured his legs.

The next afternoon it attacked a person at a different workshop, climbing down from a tree and biting him in the arms several times.

A third person was also attacked, resulting in minor injuries.

A long-tailed macaque in HCMC is tranquilized before taken to animal rescue. Photo courtesy of the HCMC Forest Protection Department

A long-tailed macaque in HCMC is tranquilized before taken to an animal rescue center. Photo courtesy of the HCMC Forest Protection Department

The animal, classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, entered people’s homes and attacked them when hungry, the department said.

It added that people should not try to capture macaques by themselves, and should call authorities instead.

Earlier this year a troop containing dozens of macaques wreaked havoc in Thanh Xuan Ward. Six of them were tranquilized and eventually released back into the wild while the rest gave wildlife authorities the slip.