Phetchaburi: The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) yesterday launched the second phase of a project to relocate macaques from the Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park to the Huai Sai Wildlife Breeding Centre.
Cages have been placed at 12 spots around the Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park, known as Khao Wang, in Muang district, to capture 205 macaques.
In the first phase, which took place in December last year, 204 macaques were caught.
The operation prioritised capturing the herd leaders, which was difficult because the macaques were intelligent and aggressive, a source said.
The captured animals were then relocated to the Huai Sai Wildlife Breeding Centre in Cha-am district and are now in good health.
The relocation is a joint effort between the DNP and the civil network in the province to mitigate the conflict between the monkeys and people.
The plan could be adopted by other provinces facing a similar problem.
Yuthapol Angkinan, adviser to the Minister of Social Development and Human Security; Atthapol Charoenchansa, DNP director-general; and Edwin Wiek, Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand secretary-general, joined the launch.
According to officials, there were initially more than 1,000 macaques living on a hill site at the park.
Locals complained about the animals being aggressive to people in Muang district.
The population of macaques there alone was found to have grown rapidly from about 9,500 in April last year to 12,000 by June the same year, according to provincial authorities.