A RHESUS macaque, or Macaca mulatta, was spotted in Luohu District recently. Two days later, the monkey showed up in Buji in Longgang District, Shenzhen Evening News reported.

A citizen surnamed Wu, a community health center worker in Huangbeiling 3rd Road in Luohu District, noticed the monkey standing on a roadside billboard around 10 a.m. Sunday, near the entrance of her office.

The monkey seemed very vigilant when perceiving people approaching. It quickly jumped off the billboard, and then jumped onto a nearby banyan tree with several vertical leaps.

More and more citizens were watching when the monkey was standing on the tree. Wu said the monkey looked very emotional, with its mouth open, bearing its teeth and making occasional roars.

Later, the monkey climbed to the roof of a convenience store.

The store owner along Huangbeiling 3rd Road, surnamed Liu, told the News that he had seen the monkey pass through the anti-theft net and stole food from a nearby resident’s home.

“People were watching the monkey just out of curiosity,” Liu said, adding that “This was my first time to see a monkey in the city. I have lived here for a dozen years. It is very interesting, and the monkey disappeared from our sight later.”

When citizens thought the monkey might return to the wild, it showed up again. This time, it was spotted at Buji Subdistrict in Longgang District.

A cleaner, identified by his surnamed Yuan, saw a monkey quickly jumping to a tent in front of a café in Buji MixC at 9 a.m. Monday.

Out of curiosity, Yuan took a step forward to observe. The monkey then jumped to the glass curtain wall of the mall’s second floor. In less than a minute, the monkey climbed along the glass curtain wall to the mall’s garden. About 30 minutes later, Yuan discovered the monkey had left.

Around 9:50 a.m. the same day, a citizen surnamed Chen spotted the monkey frolicking in the trees and on the eaves of his residence at Legend Mansion in Longgang District.

The monkey spotted in Longgang is the same monkey that was found in Luohu Checkpoint on Saturday, according to Wang Kai, a staffer from the city’s nature reserve management center.

The management center went to the checkpoint after receiving a report and confirmed that the monkey is a rhesus macaque, a national second-class protected animal.

The monkey ran into a residential compound near the checkpoint after seeing people approaching. Fearing that the monkey would attack citizens, the staff prepared to take “trapping” measures, but failed.

Wang said they had been paying close attention to the monkey these days. However, due to the monkey’s changing whereabouts, it is difficult to “trap” the monkey.

Wang observed that the monkey might come from other cities or has been abandoned by illegal breeders or escaped from illegal breeding places. Wang warned citizens to keep their distance from the monkey and avoid feeding or taunting it as it has a certain degree of aggression.

After confirming the monkey’s whereabouts, the center will go out to trap it, according to Wang.  (Wang Jingli)