One of the residents, Jaco Rautenbach, called the Vervet Monkey Foundation to collect the monkey as it was still alive and in excruciating pain.
Dave du Toit of the foundation took the monkey to a vet in Phalaborwa.
“Unfortunately the monkey had to be put down, the pellet had traveled through the eye socket to the middle of the brain, making it impossible for him to regain full functionality of his limbs,” said Du Toit.
Du Toit added the monkey would have been compromised completely on the left side.
To make things worse, the monkey must have been shot a while back with a .22 because the bullet was still visible on the x-ray.
Du Toit said there is as lot of cases in Tzaneen where monkeys and cats get shot.
If an animal is shot, it can suffer for days before ultimately dying.
“It is an extremely cruel death”, said Du Toit.
Some community members have complained on social media sites about the monkeys in the area.
“The first thing is people should not feed the monkeys in the area,” said Du Toit.
Make sure all rubbish bins are securely closed.
If wildlife is welcome in the area rather plant indigenous fruit trees that they can feed from.
Community members should be looking at ways they can restore some green belt areas for the local wildlife to live in.
Monkeys can be chased off by spraying water at them with a hose pipe or high power water pistols.
