A monkey in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh has rained down banknotes on people, reports say.

Surprised holidaymakers in the scenic¹ pine forest of Shimla, the state capital, ran around, collecting the falling notes for nearly an hour on Sunday, eyewitnesses² said.

Reports said the simian³ stole 10,000 rupees ($165; ￡100) from a nearby home.

The monkey had entered the house to look for food, but when it did not find anything to eat, it took the money.

There are some 300,000 monkeys in the state and Shimla has long been a haven⁴ for the animals.

Macaque monkeys are considered sacred by Hindus, who often feed them.

But in recent years, the animals have been coming increasingly in conflict with humans, destroying crops, attacking people for food and biting children. And authorities in Himachal Pradesh have declared monkeys a menace.

The cash-dispensing simian was first spotted⁵ sitting on a tin roof with a bundle of currency notes before it playfully started throwing them down one-by-one.

As people began collecting notes of various denominations⁶, the monkey moved on to a tree.

But as it continued to distribute money, many people rushed there to pick up the falling notes.

"Surprised by the attention it was attracting, the cash loaded monkey then decided⁷ to move into the thick pine trees. But as it continued to shower notes, the money collectors naturally followed it," said Amit Kanwar who witnessed the entire scene.

This is the second such incident in Shimla this year - in February too, a monkey stole a wad of currency notes from a home and distributed it among people on a crowded street.

据英国广播公司9月2日报道，印度北部喜马偕尔邦（Himachal Pradesh）的一只猴子向人们撒钱。

周日（31日），喜马偕尔邦首府西姆拉的风景胜地松树林里，不敢相信眼前景象的游客正到处奔跑去抓飘落下来的纸币。目击者称，时间持续了近一个小时。

报道称猴子从附近居民家偷了1万卢比（合165美元），猴子溜进房子本想找点吃的，但发现一无所获后拿了钱。

在这个邦约有30万只猴子，西姆拉一直是动物天堂。

猕猴在印度人眼中是神物，印度人经常会给它们喂食。

但最近几年，动物开始与人类发生冲突，毁坏庄稼，为抢食袭击人类，咬伤儿童。喜马偕尔邦政府如今已经将猴子列为一大威胁。

撒钱的猴子一开始拿着一把现金坐在一个白铁皮屋顶上，然后像开玩笑似的把钱一张张扔下去。

在人们开始去捡不同面额的纸币时，猴子又跑到了树上。

猴子在树上继续撒钱，人们就跑过去抓飘落的纸币。

“没想到吸引了如此多人，猴子带着钱跑到了茂密的松树林里。它继续撒钱，捡钱的人们自然又追了上去。”目击了全过程的阿米特·坎瓦尔（Amit Kanwar）说。

这是西姆拉今年第二次发生这样的事了，第一次是在二月份，一只猴子从居民家偷了一卷钞票在人潮拥挤的大街上向人群撒去。