Baby killed by monkey

A NEWBORN baby died after being snatched by a monkey from her family's living room in central Malaysia, official said yesterday.

The body of the four-day-old girl was found on the ground outside the family's home in Negri Sembilan state on Wednesday, said a Wildlife Department official.

The monkey clambered to the roof of the single-storey house carrying the child and then dropped her after possibly mistaking her for food, the official said.

The girl, who had been left alone in the room, had bite marks on her neck and face.

A wildlife official shot the monkey later.

The animal had been earlier sighted loitering in the vicinity of the house, and might have been attracted by a female pet monkey the family kept in a cage, a spokesman said.

Malaysian authorities have battled a booming macaque population in cities where they sometimes attack people and raid food supplies.

However, plans to catch them and export them for food and scientific research were scrapped in 2008 after officials discovered most were riddled with disease.