We’re into the second week of January, so it’s right about time for a lot of people to be losing motivation for the fitness regimens they pledged to follow for their New Year’s resolutions. However, should one man in Japan decide he’s going to take a break from jogging for a while, it wouldn’t be fair to accuse him of having gotten lazy, since even the most ambitious exerciser probably doesn’t want to have to figure out how to fold sudden monkey ambushes into their workout program.
At around 3:30 in the afternoon on January 9, a man in his 30s was jogging in the Kamihachiman-cho neighborhood of Tokushima City, Tokushima Prefecture. As he was running, he was surprised by a wild monkey, roughly 50 centimeters tall, which grabbed him by the legs.
▼ Though not far from the ocean, Kamihachiman-cho has some quite mountainous and forested topography.
Though startled, the man was able to shake the monkey off. While wild monkey sightings aren’t exceptionally rare in Japan, it’s unusual for them to approach/attack people like this. Often confrontations between humans and wild animals are triggered by the animals feeling like their territory is being encroached upon, so leaving the area is usually enough to settle the matter, and so the man kept on running…only to find that the monkey was now chasing him.
The monkey didn’t just follow for a few strides as a quick show of dominance, either. According to the man’s estimate, it chased him for roughly 500 meters, or roughly a third of a mile.
Eventually the monkey, either feeling like it had defended its territory or gotten in a sufficient workout, broke off its pursuit and withdrew into the forest, and luckily the man sustained no injuries from the encounter. However, as the incident comes just four days after a man was bitten on the legs by a wild monkey in the neighboring Tokushima City district of Hachimancho-cho, it seems at least one, and possibly two, primates are showing increased aggressiveness towards human residents, and the local police are urging caution.
Source: Yomiuri Shimbun
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9 Comments
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John-San
I detest monkeys They use get on my roof when I was living near Ito. Got myself a sling shot and peg them over and over and over then no monkey problem. They stop getting on the roofs and stay in the forest valley. If you think they a cute you not right in the head. Every monkey know your persona even if they never seen you before. Monkeys see me and I get 20m near them they run where my partner can walk right pass them alone no problem. These monkey studied this jogger pick him as an easy mark and attack him. Monkey do this for their own entertainment and might get a snack or trinket as well. Waste of good natural onsen also.
Sanjinosebleed
Small but they have got some serious teeth on them! Wouldn’t want to be bitten!
ILoveDownvotes
True love knows no boundaries... :-D
Old Sausage
The monkey issue is not an isolated event. If you care to do some private statistics, perhaps you'll notice that the level of violence on the entire planet is increasing, together with climate change. Bears in Japan also show this trend. Birds in South America that are not birds of prey also show unusually violent behaviors.
wallace
It is illegal to attack wild animals.
John-San
Wallace: Not is not, You would change your mind when tree dwell monkeys defecate on your roof. Or would just live there with all that crap of your roof ?
wallace
It's illegal in Japan to attack animals. People have been prosecuted for attacking pigeons and feral cats.
The Act on Welfare and Management of Animals passed in 1973, prohibits the destruction, injury, or cruelty to animals.
The penalty for injuring or destroying a protected animal without reason is up to one year in prison or a fine of up to one million yen.
You have my sympathy with your monkey problem.
Sanjinosebleed
tell that to all the dead bears no wild pigs….
Desert Tortoise
I hope this man is receiving rabies shots !