Zhang Jikui, marketing director of Chongqing Yangtze River Three Gorges Tourism Development Company, said the semi-wild macaques will help restore ecological balance and meet the demand of tourists who want to see monkeys playing on the reservoir banks.

The macaques will be moved from a nearby gorge along a Yangtze tributary to Qutang Gorge where they will be trained to ask for food, show thanks, and perform for tourists, Zhang said.

Qutang, Wuxia and Xiling gorges makeup the “Three Gorges” of the Yangtze River.