A Formosan rock macaque in Chiayi County has gained a measure of fame on the Internet after being caught following a raid on a convenience store where it feasted on junk food.
Photographs of the macaque sitting inside a purple wire cage with what has been described as a mischievous smirk, confident look and almost a styled hair-do have been circulating widely.
“He is totally the Takeshi Kaneshiro (金城武) of the monkey world,” said one netizen, referring to the 40-year-old Taiwanese-
Photo: Hsieh Yin-chung, Taipei Times
Japanese actor famous for his good looks and charm.
“If this monkey were a person, he would be Edison Chen (陳冠希),” another person wrote, referencing the 33-year-old Hong Kong singer.
Recounting the “burglary,” a female clerk at a convenience store in Dapu Township (大埔) said the macaque followed a customer into the store at about 5:35 am on Monday last week and quickly took to the shelves.
The macaque bounced around on the shelves, before opening some packages of cookies and chocolate, the clerk said.
The clerk said she was “terrified at the horrendous sight,” but tried to scare it out of the store by waving a stick.
After the macaque ignored her attempts, she called the local fire department for help, she said.
Firefighters said the macaque fled the store when they tried to catch it, clambering around nearby utility poles and homes for about an hour and evading both firefighters and local residents who joined in the chase.
It was finally nabbed after a nearby resident cornered it with a basket, firefighters said.
The macaque is reportedly a repeat offender, having allegedly eaten some offerings left at a shrine to the earth god, residents said.
Caretakers at the Chiayi County Agricultural Department said the macaque was very tame.
They said they tried to feed it some fruit, but it seemed to prefer junk food, suggesting that it had once been kept as a pet, but was later abandoned or escaped.
Worried that it might not be able to survive in the wild, the caretakers said the macaque has been sent to a shelter at National Pingtung University of Science, where it would be safe.
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