Wild monkey 'graveyard' found in Trang
METHEE MUANGKAEW
TRANG — A man claims to have found a natural graveyard filled with bones of wild monkeys in a valley in Palian district of this southern province.
The boneyard was found in Khao Lorn Valley, which is home to several hundred monkeys, in tambon Li Pung by Aroon Iaddej, 16, whose family home is a rubber plantation near the valley.
Mr Aroon said he found hundreds of animal bones on open rocky ground near a cliff about halfway up the mountain nine years ago, when he was aged seven. He persuaded some of his friends to go there to collect some of the bones for playing games, but had never told anyone in the tambon about the place until Monday.
As the news spread, Aslamee Nubae, chairman of Li Pung tambon administration organisation (TAO), led about 30 villagers to the area on Tuesday. The group found piles of bones from what they believe to be leaf monkeys, also known as langurs, and other kinds of animals scattered over the site.
Mr Aslamee said local people assumed the monkeys came to rest at the spot when they were sick, injured or knew they were going to die. He said an elephant's skeleton had also been found in the area years ago.
He believed the remains of the dead monkeys had built up over the decades until the place became a natural cemetery for the wild primates.
Pian Watmee, deputy chairman of Li Pung TAO, said specialists will be invited to examine the bones and the place, both the surface and underneath it. The area could possibly be developed into a local tourist attraction.