Monkey Buffet Festival 2011 In Thailand Offers Treats To Local Animals (PHOTOS)

PHOTOS: Monkey Buffet Festival In Thailand Celebrates Local Animals

While many Americans were enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, a group of monkeys in Thailand were also feasting.

The Monkey Buffet Festival, which is held each year in Lopburi, Thailand, is meant to promote tourism in the area, and, of course, give the local monkey population something to celebrate.

According to Sky News Australia, the feast at the Pra Prang Sam Yot temple attracts many of the area's 2,000 monkeys. Hopefully it was worth it for the monkeys -- their feast cost around $16,000.

Last year, reports suggested that the long-tailed macaques, the species that enjoys the Thai feast, are often exported from Cambodia and Vietnam for laboratory research. Be sure to check out this video of lab chimps seeing sunlight for the first time.

The monkeys in these pictures look almost human-like drinking their cans of soda, and be sure to also check out this collection of monkeys doing human things.

2011 Monkey Buffet

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