KEMAMAN, MALAYSIA: Villagers in Kampung Pangkalan Binjai here are not amused by the antics of a group of macaques which hassle only the women folk.

Frustrated villagers call the apes "beruk gatal" (cheeky apes) and are laying traps to catch them. The villagers said the monkeys had attacked eight women in recent months, apart from stealing food. They would flee when they see men.

The monkeys timed their invasion into the houses at hours when the men were out at work.

Primate pickle: Mariam at her smallhold where apes ravaged her pineapple plants. The monkeys timed their invasions when men were absent.

Grandmother Mariam Jusoh said the apes had tried to attack her several times and had destroyed many of her pineapple crop.

The 72-year-old said the animals were big and aggressive and they have sharp claws. Attempts to just shoo away the animals were futile. "These animals enter our homes and ransack for food, littering the kitchen floor," she said.

A mother of three, Maimunah Hassan, 43, encountered these apes when she was returning home from a grocery shop last week.

She heard wolf whistles and turned around, assuming some youngsters were being rude.

"I was startled to see a group of apes heading toward me," she related.

She started to run and the apes pursued her. She managed to enter the house without getting hurt.

Terengganu Wildlife and National Park director Rozidan Md Yasin said the department had received numerous complaints about these apes. "They are from the mangrove areas and jungles. The ones disturbing the women were probably once reared by humans. Once they are released back into the wild, they might look for women again, maybe because they were fed by women when held captive," he said.