Monkeys terrorize a Japanese town, try to snatch babies and attack people

PA

Monkeys are terrorizing residents of a Japanese city...targeting young children and babies, and even hanging around preschools to catch them.

The wild scene takes place in the southwestern Japanese city of Yamaguchi, where city officials say a troop of monkeys have carried out the attacks since July 8...biting and scratching the human flesh, and sneaking into nurseries trying to snatch babies.

It's a huge problem...the attacks involve at least 58 people, and the city responds by hiring a special unit to chase the monkeys down with tranquilizers, with a 15-pound monkey already caught and killed.

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AP

The story gets even weirder... officials say the monkeys aren't interested in food, so the traps don't work, and they mostly prey on children and the elderly, sneaking around often from behind and grabbing people's legs.

Attacks include assaulting a woman as she hung laundry on her veranda, and there are images of monkeys peering out windows and loitering outside schools.

Japanese macaques are the monkeys behind the attacks, sending people to hospital in droves.