A Shutterbug in the Wild Kingdom

* Your April 30 article about the exotic pets of Orange County and particularly Cee Cee, the crested monkey, reminded me of an encounter I had a few years ago in the Borneo jungle with a macaque monkey.

My wife and I . . . visited the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary near Sandakan in Sabah, Borneo. Our tour group had a briefing by a ranger and then was led into the jungle toward the orangutan feeding area. We had to use a boardwalk with a handrail to get there.

Perched on the wooden handrail was a large, gray macaque watching the passing people with much curiosity. This was a sight I felt that I must record for our travel album. When the monkey observed me raising my camera from a few paces away, he turned his head indicating that he did not want his picture taken.

As soon as the rest of the tour group had passed by him, he turned to see if I was still there, whereupon I snapped the picture. The flash went off due to low light under the tree canopy and it seemed to startle him; in fact it must have infuriated him. So when I passed by him to join my group the macaque struck me.

I ended up with a great photo but also a huge bruise on my right forearm, which lasted several weeks. With such a swat that fellow could probably hold his own with the likes of Oscar de la Hoya.

WILLIAM SIEGRIST

Huntington Beach