Bosom buddies

NAN: As humans continue to invade, bomb and terrorize one another, perhaps we could all learn a lesson from a diverse group of animals that get along wonderfully together at Wat Nadai. There, a macaque, a dog, a cat and a chicken all co-exist peacefully in a temple sala. The star of the show is six-year-old Jao Jor, a female crab-eating macaque, abandoned at the temple by a traveling salesman when she was about a year old, after the salesman realized it was not practical to roam the country with an adult monkey in tow. “I’m afraid she may die or be shot and eaten by my neighbors if I abandon her,” he told the abbot of the temple back in 2000. The cat and dog get along wonderfully with Jao Jor, who especially likes to groom the dog, looking for ticks and fleas. Even a chicken has fallen under the spell of the gentle Jao Jor, who is often found hugging the bird to her chest and grooming it. The tick-picking has left the chicken half plucked – but the bird doesn’t seem to mind and is always coming back for more.