TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Authorities in Taiwan’s Yunlin County are considering measures to stop the growing population of macaque monkeys from endangering bamboo groves in Yunlin’s Gukeng Township. 

Macaques have been feeding on young bamboo trees in the region for several years, reported UDN. However, this year it has reached a critical point, with many farmers worried their groves may be entirely depleted within one or two years. 

To deal with the problem, several measures have been proposed, with local authorities appealing to the Forestry and Conservation Agency for assistance. Some proposed measures include sterilizing via catch and release, resettling a large number of the animals, as well as the establishment of hunting teams to cull the population, reported UDN.

There are over 1,500 hectares of private bamboo groves around Gukeng’s Caoling Mountain. The continued health and reforestation of the groves depend on a regular crop of young bamboo trees, referred to as “mother bamboo,” to replace the bamboo that is harvested each year. 

Bamboo farmers must constantly guard their groves to keep the monkeys from destroying the young shoots. However, for many smaller groves, it may already be too late to sustain their business. 

According to Lai Yu-hsian (賴郁憲), the region’s population of macaques has exploded over the past decade. He said that when only 20 or 30 adult monkeys lived on the mountain, the threat was negligible.

Now, over 100 macaques rely on the mountain’s bamboo groves. Over 80% of the bamboo in Gukeng Township has been damaged, with an estimated 30% of the region’s crop destroyed, Lai said, as reported by UDN. 

If trends are not reversed in the next few years, the decline of Gukeng’s bamboo groves may be irreversible. Many landowners are already considering taking out the remaining bamboo to begin farming other crops.  

Tsai Keng-yu (蔡耿宇), deputy director of Yunlin’s Agriculture Department, said it had obtained subsidies from the Ministry of Agriculture to assist the bamboo grove owners and build electric fences. However, critics argue that considering the landscape and the monkeys' intelligence, putting up electric fences could be an ineffective countermeasure.