Bounty for 'gangster' monkeys terrorising tourists at Cambodian temple

Cambodian police have put a 250-dollar bounty on the heads of several monkeys who have been terrorising tourists at a key temple in the capital and destroying nearby residents' laundry.

At least three of the large macaques, which have been biting tourists at the famed Wat Phnom pagoda and also tearing up Internet lines, are being targeted, said deputy district governor Pich Socheata.



"There are more than 200 monkeys there, but only three monkeys that behave badly ... they behave like gang leaders," she said.

"The other monkeys are afraid of people. But these monkeys are not -- they are scaring tourists visiting Wat Phnom."

Authorities tried several times to get the unruly monkeys to eat eggs laced with sleeping pills, but had always been outsmarted, she said, hence the bounty.