Aggressive, sex-mad monkeys in the Thai city of Lopburi are now so out of control that local police have effectively given up on trying to contain them.

One officer described the situation as “hopeless.”

The city’s population of wild crab-eating macaques had come to depend on bananas given to them by tourists.

For the past few months, though, very few outsiders have visited the once-bustling holiday hotspot.

The coronavirus pandemic has all but obliterated the tourist trade.

And just as local business owners depended on foreign visitors for their livelihoods, the monkeys had lost the ability to forage for themselves, relying on fruit given to them by tourists instead.

Macaques were revered by by Buddhists and have lived in local temples for decades

The sudden change has made the monkeys much more aggressive in their search for food. Well-meaning locals started giving sugary junk food to the animals in the hope of calming them down, but it’s made matters much worse.

The monkeys have adapted to the “new normal," and an unhealthy new breed of aggressive, fast-breeding macaques with thinner fur and no fear of humans has emerged.

Police officer Nirad Pholngeun, who has been issued with a slingshot to try to deter the monkey gangs told the Deccan Herald that trying to disperse large groups of the animals was “hopeless,” adding: “Within a blink of an eye there are more monkeys. So many babies.”

Gangs of monkeys roam the streets, often fighting over food

Estimates of the monkey population in the city are now as high as 8,000.

A disused cinema has become the hard quarters of one of the largest, most aggressive gangs and locals say that they avoid going out for fear of monkey attacks.

The sugary diet of fizzy drinks, cereal and sweets has made the monkeys hyperactive and much more aggressive, locals claim.

The monkeys have become dependent on food given to them by humans

Humans are barricaded in their homes while rival monkey gangs wage war on the streets.

“We live in a cage but the monkeys live outside,” said local Kuljira Taechawattanawanna.

She added: "Their excrement is everywhere, the smell is unbearable especially when it rains.”

The animals have lost all fear of humans and are increasingly aggressive

Some shopkeepers tried adding toys shaped like crocodiles and other predators to scare away the monkeys, but that only worked for a short time.

One shopkeeper, Yupa Srisanguan, said the situation has “never been this bad” before, adding “We’re not against the monkeys, but it’s difficult when people are afraid of being bitten when they come to our store.”

Yupa, 70, said there were fewer monkeys when she was a girl and they were healthier, more placid creatures that were generally concentrated in the temples.

Now feral monkey gangs roam across the city, demanding food – and stealing it when snacks are not forthcoming.

Local wildlife officials have started a project to sterilise the animals in a bid to reduce their numbers. At least 300 animals were given vasectomies last month, and a further 200 are expected to be be sterilised in August.

But while the monkeys are hurting his business, shopkeeper Patiphan Tantiwong said it’s important to remain philosophical: “The monkeys were here before us,” he says “We have to adapt to them, not the other way around.”