Thailand’sFamousMacaque“UncleFat”PlacedonaDiet泰国名猴“胖叔”被节食

张祖平

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.

泰國自由自在闲逛的猴子吸引了大量游客。它们大胆地和用食物逗它们的游客一起游玩。最近有一只猴子，因为它硕大的体型和在同伴中独一无二的地位在全球引起了轰动。

人们经常看见这只被当地人取名为“胖叔”的猴子从游客那里讨要垃圾食品和汽水，或者从垃圾箱里搜些剩菜剩饭。

“胖叔”有一群经常给它送食物的“小喽啰”，尽管“胖叔”确实会分一些食物给它的晚辈，但它吃的食物超过了自己的份额。“胖叔”不健康的饮食习惯在社交媒体上被广泛分享，令人捧腹，但这些习惯却被证明对它有害。“胖叔”真的是一只“肥猴”，现在体重26公斤，是成年猴子平均体重的三倍。

灵长类动物保护组织“爱猴者”担心这只动物的健康，他们从猴子经常光顾的曼谷郊区抓住了它并带回了市区的一个康复中心。卡什·普吉受命抓捕“胖叔”，但是他说这并非易事，因为他必须击退几名“胖叔”的“保镖”才能捉到“胖叔”。

这只胖猴正在被严格节食，只吃水果和蔬菜。“胖叔”从不健康的食物中摄入了多余的脂肪，已经形成了良性肿瘤，让它有患上心脏病和糖尿病的高风险。官员们打算在“胖叔”康复后释放它，希望这只猴子不再重拾旧的饮食习惯。

更重要的是，游客应该意识到给猴子投喂人类的零食、饮料的严重影响。除了有害健康，这些聪明的动物如此依赖于游客的施舍，会导致它们无法、不愿自己觅食。虽然最好的方法是推出一道禁止投喂的法令，但考虑到猴子给泰国旅游业带来的收入，这禁令不大可能实行。希望这只超重的动物在网上的人气能鼓励游客向它提供诸如香蕉、花生之类更加健康的食物。

Notes：

1. macaque [■] n. [脊椎]猕猴，恒河猴，短尾猴

2. capture [■] vt. 俘获；夺得；捕捉，拍摄，录制

3. mammal [■] n. [脊椎]哺乳动物

4. benign tumor 良性肿瘤

5. intelligent [■] adj. 聪明的；有智力的

6. plump [■] adj. 圆胖的，丰满的