Police in Loei trying to determine if the animals migrated or were taken as part of a trafficking operation
For decades, Tham Pha Mak Ho temple in north-east Thailand has been home to crowds of rhesus macaques. Every morning monks feed them with rice and fruit, while tourists give them bananas and seeds bought from the local street vendors.
But over recent months, local people began to notice that when they came with offerings of food, fewer monkeys seemed to greet them. Local media reported claims that hundreds seemed to have disappeared from the temple in Loei province.