Monkeys wander on the road in Xianfeng Village. (Photo from Weibo)

Xianfeng Village is a small village in Panzhihua City, in southwest China's Sichuan province. 13 years ago, in order to develop tourism, 73 macaques were introduced to the village and with time, now the population has grown to over 600. The tourism project failed; however, the monkeys have gotten used to living there. A "money disaster" has stricken this poor village of less than 300 people.

The village secretary He Youliang came up with the idea of developing tourism through constructing a mountain resort which was themed around monkeys. In October 2003, he and villagers lured 73 monkeys from the mountains into their village with food. 　　

A local business man agreed to invest in the project and the "Macaque Mountain Resort" was built. However, the business was not good. The resort received less than 30,000 visitors every year and the income was not enough to pay the salaries of employees. Now, there are only five employees still working in the resort and the project is considered to be failed. 

With enough food and no natural enemies, the population of money had increased to over 600 by 2014. Without proper management, those monkeys now wander on the streets of the village and often grab food from villagers' home. Sometimes, they even attack the villagers. They have gotten used to the lazy life and are not willing to go back to the mountains. 

Only the local government can save villagers from this "monkey disaster". The relevant departments are now conducting research for a "wild animal protection fund" which is funded by the provincial, municipal and district governments. In the scheme, each villager just needs to pay 10 yuan a year. When their health or property is damaged by wild animals such as the monkey, they will be compensated by the fund.