Overview
- Nearly 100 long-tailed macaques escaped from the Lopburi Municipality Animal Nursery, which broke out Tuesday morning, while staff kept more than 1,000 other primates inside the facility.
- Provincial, municipal and wildlife teams searched nearby neighborhoods and used food-baited cages and tranquilizer darts to capture animals, and crew members repaired the breached section of the enclosure the same day.
- Lopburi officials pointed to hunger, extreme heat, overcrowding and the macaques’ instinct to roam as likely causes for the breakout and apologized to residents for property damage.
- The governor announced plans for a stronger, double-layer enclosure to prevent dominant monkeys from breaking out and said the province is preparing a foundation to fund food and veterinary care for the animals.
- The escape follows a 2024 government program that rounded up about 2,500 macaques into enclosures after rising conflicts with people, and the incident highlights ongoing strains on facility design, staffing and long-term funding for human–monkey management.