This is an amazing though not unheard of story.
Hong Kong has about 1200 monkeys which, unfortunately for them, from time to time do get in the way of humans because of increasing and expanding urbanization.
The contacts between simians and humans can sometimes be fatal, for the former. Around 20 monkeys are killed each year by motor vehicles.
On Wednesday, a monkey was knocked down by a motorbike on a country road. What has been revealing and in many ways touching too, was that the injured simian was rescued by fellow monkeys.
The act does bespeak a sense of tribal or community spirit or instinct, that can be said to surpass even the civic conduct of some humans – hmmm, why do we commonly use the term community spirit for humans and herd instinct for animals? Shouldn’t it be the other way around, after hearing of this altruistic example?
The monkeys ran out from the woods and pulled their then still-alive companion into the undergrowth virtually immediately after it was run down by the bike. But alas, it was all in vain as the poor monkey was subsequently found dead.
Were the other monkeys terrified of the ‘shock & awe’ effect of the terrifying machine? Did they cry a few tears for their slain member?
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