Man who brawled with monkeys on Mount Emei issues apology

A man who was caught on camera fighting with monkeys on Mount Emei has apologized for his inappropriate behavior.

A video posted on Douyin on Friday showed fisticuffs between a man and a monkey on the mountain went viral on social media.

"He did what numerous people want to do but dare not," one netizen commented.

The following day, the man surnamed Xie apologized in a video on Douyin for his behavior and called for no one to imitate it, adding he had no intention of hurting the monkeys. He was trying, he claimed, to take a picture with the monkey and only attempted to scare the monkeys away after the monkey attacked him out of reflex.

The monkeys on Mount Emei are largely of a species known as Tibetan Macaque, a second-grade animal under state protection. They have a reputation for harassing visitors, and received a lot of attention recently after the mountain's forestry administration announced new methods to separate monkeys from visitors.

The troublesome primates will be driven away from areas where visitors are allowed and tourists can watch the monkeys from afar, a news outlet in Chengdu said.

Visitors are not allowed to feed, touch or pet the monkeys, and should try their best to stay away from them, an official with the Mount Emei Scenic Area said to Cover News, adding that chasing, yelling or attacking the monkeys is expressly forbidden.