張祖平

Thailands free-roaming monkeys are a huge tourist draw. They are fearless to visit with tourists who play them with food. One of these monkeys， in particular， has recently become a worldwide sensation for both his big size and unique social status among his peers.

Nicknamed Uncle Fat， by the locals， the monkey is often seen seeking junk food and soda from visitors or searching through trash cans for leftovers.

Uncle Fat has a group of smaller monkeys as his followers that deliver him food quite often. Though Uncle Fat does share some of the food with younger ones， he eats more than his fair share. While Uncle Fats unhealthy eating habits that have been shared extensively on social media have been fun to humans， they are proving dangerous for the monkey. A true “chunky monkey”， Uncle Fat now weighs 26 kgs or about three times the size of an average adult monkey.

Fearing for the animals health， the primate conservation group Monkey Lovers captured2 the mammal3 from Bangkok suburb he went to daily and brought him to a health center in the city. Kacha Phukem， who was ordered to take him in， says it was no easy task given that he had to fight off several monkey “bodyguards” to get to Uncle Fat.

The heavy monkey is now on a strict diet of fruits and vegetables. The over fat gained from eating the unhealthy food has formed a type of benign tumor4 and it puts the monkey at a high risk of contracting heart disease and diabetes. While the officials plan on releasing Uncle Fat once he is healthy， they hope the monkey does not go back to his old eating habits.

More importantly， visitors should realize the serious impact of feeding the monkeys human snacks and drinks. In addition to being harmful， the intelligent5 animals are becoming so dependent on the handouts that they are no longer able or willing to find food on their own. While the best solution is to place a ban on feeding them all together， its unlikely to be carried out， considering the tourism business the monkeys earn for Thailand. Hopefully， this overly plump6 animals Internet popularity will encourage visitors to offer the monkeys healthier food like bananas and peanuts.

泰國自由自在閑逛的猴子吸引了大量游客。它們大膽地和用食物逗它們的游客一起游玩。最近有一只猴子，因為它碩大的體型和在同伴中獨一無二的地位在全球引起了轟動。

人們經(jīng)?？匆娺@只被當?shù)厝巳∶麨椤芭质濉钡暮镒訌挠慰湍抢镉懸称泛推?，或者從垃圾箱里搜些剩菜剩飯?/p>

“胖叔”有一群經(jīng)常給它送食物的“小嘍啰”，盡管“胖叔”確實會分一些食物給它的晚輩，但它吃的食物超過了自己的份額?！芭质濉辈唤】档娘嬍沉晳T在社交媒體上被廣泛分享，令人捧腹，但這些習慣卻被證明對它有害。“胖叔”真的是一只“肥猴”，現(xiàn)在體重26公斤，是成年猴子平均體重的三倍。

靈長類動物保護組織“愛猴者”擔心這只動物的健康，他們從猴子經(jīng)常光顧的曼谷郊區(qū)抓住了它并帶回了市區(qū)的一個康復中心?？ㄊ病て占苊ゲ丁芭质濉保撬f這并非易事，因為他必須擊退幾名“胖叔”的“保鏢”才能捉到“胖叔”。

這只胖猴正在被嚴格節(jié)食，只吃水果和蔬菜。“胖叔”從不健康的食物中攝入了多余的脂肪，已經(jīng)形成了良性腫瘤，讓它有患上心臟病和糖尿病的高風險。官員們打算在“胖叔”康復后釋放它，希望這只猴子不再重拾舊的飲食習慣。

更重要的是，游客應(yīng)該意識到給猴子投喂人類的零食、飲料的嚴重影響。除了有害健康，這些聰明的動物如此依賴于游客的施舍，會導致它們無法、不愿自己覓食。雖然最好的方法是推出一道禁止投喂的法令，但考慮到猴子給泰國旅游業(yè)帶來的收入，這禁令不大可能實行。希望這只超重的動物在網(wǎng)上的人氣能鼓勵游客向它提供諸如香蕉、花生之類更加健康的食物。

Notes：

1. macaque [■] n. [脊椎]獼猴，恒河猴，短尾猴

2. capture [■] vt. 俘獲；奪得；捕捉，拍攝，錄制

3. mammal [■] n. [脊椎]哺乳動物

4. benign tumor 良性腫瘤

5. intelligent [■] adj. 聰明的；有智力的

6. plump [■] adj. 圓胖的，豐滿的