A gang of 30 to 40 hungry monkeys surrounded a group of frightened passengers when they stepped off a bus at a rural Hong Kong bus stop, a news report said on Thursday.
Panicked passengers dialled police for help when the monkeys, believed to be scavenging for food, rushed towards them at bus stop near the territory’s Lion Rock Country Park on Wednesday.
After a tense stand-off, the monkeys fled up a hillside before countryside rangers arrived to deal with them, the South China Morning Post reported.
Macaque monkeys are native to Hong Kong’s rural areas although they rarely approach people or stray into urban areas.
During winter, natural food supplies run short, however, and monkeys are more likely to scavenge or attempt to grab food from people, experts say. – Sapa-DPA