A long-tailed macaque was seen wandering in the vicinity of a preschool at Bukit Panjang recently.

Curious macaque

In a video posted to Facebook by one Camelia Nguyen, the creature was seen hopping up and perching on the windowsill facing the corridor.

Nguyen revealed that the incident took place near 167 Pending Road.

She can be heard attempting to guide the monkey away from the area by saying "Come, come, come, come!", but it pays no heed.

When Nguyen moves closer to the monkey however, it turns back from its perch to snarl at her, drawing from her a small shriek of surprise.

The monkey then continues to stick its head through the window grilles to peer in curiously.

After casually scratching itself, the macaque jumps down and wanders off.

There did not appear to be anyone inside the preschool at the time.

What to do if you encounter a macaque

Despite this being a largely urbanised area, there have been previous reports of macaques roaming around Bukit Panjang.

In Jan. 2020, a macaque visited a childcare centre at Bukit Panjang, and the children had to be evacuated for safety reasons.

Acres revealed that this macaque in question was previously fed bananas by a condo resident, and it subsequently made its way from the condo to the childcare centre.

Members of the public should avoid feeding macaques and other wild animals, as this could habituate them to the human presence, leading to them venturing out of nature areas to forage and increasing the likelihood human-wildlife conflicts occurring.

According to NParks, visitors to nature areas should take note not to feed the macaques, as it might reduce their natural inclination to forage in the forests.

If you encounter a macaque at one of Singapore's nature areas, here are some things to take note of:

• Remain calm and quiet.
• Do not make sudden movements.
• Do not maintain eye contact with the monkeys.
• Conceal all food and plastic bags.
• Do not try to hit the monkey.
• Look away and back off slowly.
• Keep away from the area until the monkeys have left.

Top photo from Camelia Nguyen / FB