300 children bitten by 'blood sucking' monkeys at famous Indian temple

Monkeys lurking at an ancient Hindu temple in India's northeast have attacked up to 300 children over three weeks, temple officials said Tuesday.

"They hide in trees and swoop on unsuspecting children loitering about in the temple premises or walking by, clawing them and even sucking a bit of blood," Bani Kumar Sharma, a priest at the Kamakhya temple in Assam state, told The Associated Press. The temple, one of the most famous in India, is located in Gauhati, Assam's capital.

"I was returning home from school when a monkey suddenly pounced on me, scratched my head and hand and pushed me to the ground," said Jolly Sharma, a 6-year-old girl.

At least 2,000 rhesus monkeys roam in and around the temple, but none had shown aggressive behavior in the past, the priest said.

asia.news.yahoo.com...

What's going on with the monkeys man? they said there wasn't this kind of behaviour in the past.......anyone ever hear of vampire monkeys??

sure would like to know more about this

Getting bit by any monkey would be bad cause of infections and things like that.... but those are usually accidental bites... for there to be actual ones that go FOR you and TRY and bite you... that's just not good. Period!

Originally posted by SomewhereInChina
What's going on with the monkeys man? they said there wasn't this kind of behaviour in the past.......anyone ever hear of vampire monkeys??

sure would like to know more about this

What, this monkey man ?
archives.cnn.com...

What was interesting here, was the way in which the story propagated, and grew more wild with each telling, became quite a meme that one.

I wonder if this is a food issue, if their resources are becoming scarce, then they may be looking at alternatives, and people wandering about offer a tempting alternative (not as a source of food of course , but the fact that they'll have food about them).

I see this (ok, in principle) was offered up a possible explanation:

"The loss of habitat due to increased human settlement in the hills around the temple [...] ".

That's when its time to hire some good ole' boys from Texas armed with shotguns and tell them 'It's Monkey huntin' time!'

Anyway, are these incidents organized attacks or just random acts of monkey violence?

The monkey man rampage in India was the invention of a gang of thugs, who used the superstition for easy pickings... Some victims even committed suicide trying to flee them.

As for this story, man, that's weird....

"I'll get you my pretties, and your little dog too!" With the way these things get told in India, soon these things will have wings too, hehe...

Originally posted by SomewhereInChina
What's going on with the monkeys man? they said there wasn't this kind of behaviour in the past.......anyone ever hear of vampire monkeys??

While people don't like to speak of things outside the norm, the fact is there's virtually no aborant behavior not exhibited by some animal in any collective situation, including humans. And though it always exists, it's when the collective group "turns" in great numbers that the scientists and researchers take notice. That the superstitious propagate rumor and conjecture. And that linear thinking looks back for a root cause tipping the turning point... indeed to name the hundredth monkey.

As it turns out, the feral chimp is one of our own.

Hmmmm Where was Mirthful Me during this Monkey Rampage?

ATS Monkeys, Not just for Bloodletting Anymore!

[edit on 11/2/04 by FredT]

monkeys, like all primates, have an aggressive streak. I agree, this is most likley dud to lost habitat and scarce food.

I'd guess a very high percentage of those attacked were carrying food or smelled like food (eaten recently)

how do you get vampire monkey from this story ?????

It could just have been a mistranslation...
Could they have meant the monks?



Here�s another source: 300 children bitten by monkeys


"While occasional attacks by monkeys are not uncommon at temples, the sudden surge in attacks at the Gauhati temple has experts perplexed."

i read about this in the paper today, they said it may be because they feel the humans are invading their territory and they are "protecting" it. but the monks and villagers wont do anything about it because the monkeys are the reincarnation of the monkey god hanuman. also i read that usually the monkeys are docile and just want food.
just hope an "outbreak" type scenario doesnt happen!

Blood sucking monkeys? I'll never look at monkeys the same way again. o.o

OMG, the Evil Monkeys Corporation strikes again. When will they stop? I suppose that they've been developing wings in their secret lab in Genoa. Sorry, I'm paranoid.

[homer voice] mmm, flying monkeys, ugghhh(drools) [/homer voice]

could it possibly be overpopulation causing the monkeys to become more agressive.
It is against their religion to kill monkeys and they are treated better than humans in some respects.
maybe the monkeys know their sacred status and decided to cause some mischief time without fear of repercussions.
Also maybe they like the salt in the blood.

I remember being chased my some monkeys in India a couple of years back !

Man, they're whacked !

Deep

Originally posted by ZeroDeep
I remember being chased my some monkeys in India a couple of years back !

Man, they're whacked !

Deep

The monkeys in India have lost there fear of humans. They know they won't be hurt.

I saw a special recently on BBC about rogue chimps in Uganda. There have been 15 attacks on children by chimps in the last 7 years. One chimp actually snatched a baby from a mother's back and drug it off into the forest. The male villagers ran into the forest to find the baby. They found the chimp sitting on the baby and chewing it's face. The child died later.
Researchers think it's because of the dwindling forests in Uganda. The chimp's food sources are getting scarce so they turn to "hunting" children, small goats, or chickens instead.
I did'nt know it was happening in India too.
Scarey!!!

This is just my point of veiw....but step back and think about it for a minute. Blood sucking? No. Do they draw blood, probably. They're animals, like us. sooooooooooooo

Think about it. the infants are generally about the size of a monkey.......IT'S TERRITORIAL... dunno just makes most sense to me.

I don't know what kind of monkeys they're talking about in India but chimps are omnivorous (meat and veg eating). Chimps hunt smaller monkeys for food. Cutting down the trees and clearing the land for farming in Uganda means the smaller monkeys are getting more scarce. That's why researchers thought the rogue chimps had started attacking the native's babies.

It's times like this that shotguns and flamethrowes become useful. I'm not one to kill an animal without reason but when overpopulation and evil monkeys attack hunting may become nessesary. D@mn the wicked witch of the west and her d@mn flying monkeys.