Monkey business!
On Saturday while The San Pedro Sun was busy assisting the ACES crew with relocating the crocodile, police officers responded to a report of an animal disturbance at a resort down south. Reports claim that on Saturday July 19th, a tourist by the name of Laura Sutton was attacked and bitten by a monkey reportedly belonging to Marina’s Grocery in San Pedro Town. Sutton received numerous bite marks to both arms, along with several scrapes and scratches for which she got medical treatment. Sutton was not the only victim as the monkey also attacked Belizean American Lisa Ali at the Banyan Bay facilities. Ali was treated for wounds to her left leg and received nine stitches. When The Sun arrived at the scene at Banana Beach on Saturday, Pancho, the monkey was suspended on the verandah of the resort where an individual was trying to coerce the monkey to come down. After several futile attempts, a ploy to attract the monkey with food and then trap it with a cloth went awry as the monkey hissed at him signaling another attack. After it was becoming too much of a nuisance, the police decided to take matters into their own hands and struck the monkey on the head hoping that it would knock him out, instead the blow proved to be fatal as Pancho succumbed to his injuries.


They couldn't just throw a fishing net over the monkey?

I actually saw this guy hanging out in front of the store. Too bad. It would have been a nice addition under the right circumstances.

Monkeys belong in the jungle!!!!

The article underplays the severity of the attack on Laura, one bite came close to severing a vein in her wrist and she received app. 35 stitches for her wounds.

A perfect example of why you shouldn't keep wild animals in captivity.

The Wildlife Officer explained, during his visit, that all wildlife (including parrots) kept in captivity in Belize has to be licensed by law. He said he was shocked by the number of wild animals being kept as pets on the island.

Catching a monkey who is on a biting rampage in a net may not have been the safest avenue to follow.

I would be very concerned to know if this animal was tested for rabies. Why would a normally well behaved "pet" go crazy like that?

We tend to vaccinate our cats and dogs against rabies, but I don't imagine the folks that keep raccoons, coatmundis and monkeys bother.

Monkey's are notorious for being rather aggressive and unpredictable. It was probably nothing more than a pissed-off monkey and an unsuspecting pedestrian. I've seen monkey-attacks the world over so many times that I give those things a really, really, really wide berth. JZB is correct.

They can be very unpredictable, especially with strangers.
I used to take care of one at Journey's End and he was very aggressive when idiots gave him alcohol.

bet those (abusive) idiots thought that was hilarious.

why do people feel it's okay to do things while on vacation or in a foreign (to them) country that they would never do at home?

agree: wild animals are not meant to be pets. sad, really sad.

In Laura's case the monkey was on the loose and when it saw her Pomeranian it went in for the attack. She grabbed the dog and hoisted it up on her shoulder, the monkey climbed up after the dog. She threw the dog into the house and tried to push the monkey off of herself and it attacked her. The attack was unprovoked.