Gangs of feral monkeys invade Thai city left deserted by humans in coronavirus panic

Just when it seemed like the world couldn’t resemble the opening scenes of an apocalyptic horror film any more, it appears the coronavirus has sparked gang warfare between monkeys on the streets of Thailand.

For understandable reasons, the pandemic has led to a decline in tourism around the globe. The Lopburi monkey population is usually split in two with one group residing in the city while the other patrols the area around the temple. Many of the monkeys rely on food from tourists but these are desperate times and tourists are few and far between. Because lots of people have isolated themselves and are working from home, there's also very few cars on the streets, so the monkeys are more free than ever to roam the streets.

The extraordinary fighting scenes were captured on video when one monkey found a single banana and hundreds of others swarmed in. This sparked the kind of mass brawl that used to be synonymous with warring fans at any major sporting tournament.

Eyewitness Sasaluk Rattanachai, who captured the footage, said:

They looked more like wild dogs than monkeys. They went crazy for the single piece of food. I’ve never seen them so aggressive.

Humans share about 98 per cent of our DNA with chimpanzees, which probably explains the toilet paper riots of recent weeks...

H/T: MailOnline