This is the astonishing moment hundreds of starving wild monkeys scramble for a single piece of food because of the coronavirus outbreak.<br /><br />The primates are normally well fed by tourists in the city of Lopburi, central Thailand, but visitors have plummeted because of the virus sweeping the world.<br /><br />So when one of the primates had a juicy banana, the entire pack roaming around the streets surrounded the creature this morning (March 11) and tried to grab it.<br /><br />Footage shows how hundreds of monkeys began tussling for the snack. When one of the animals fled with it, the creatures chased it up a grass bank.<br /><br />Even locals who are used to seeing the creatures were shocked by their ferocity.<br /><br />Onlooker Sasaluk Rattanachai captured the scene from outside a shop where she works. <br /><br />She said: ''They looked more like wild dogs than monkeys. They went crazy for a single piece of food. I've never seen them this aggressive.<br /><br />''I think the monkeys were very, very hungry. There's normally a lot of tourists here to feed the monkeys but now there are not as many, because of the coronavirus.''<br /><br />Lopburi is home to thousands of wild monkeys that roam the streets and buildings. Many live on the grounds of the city's ancient Buddhist temples.<br /><br />Last month it emerged that wild monkeys in Thailand were suffering because of the coronavirus causing tourist arrivals to plunge by 44 percent.<br /><br />Primates living in a public park in Songkhla, southern Thailand, are usually well fed by visiting tourists from Malaysia and China. <br /><br />However, the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus has all but stopped the arrival of tourists to the area, where they would normally feed the wild monkeys. <br /><br />Kind locals stepped in on Tuesday (Feb 26) evening to give the monkeys fresh watermelons and tomatoes.
