Hong Kong - A 25-year-old woman was taken to hospital after being mugged by a monkey for a box of egg tarts at a bus stop in Hong Kong, police said Monday.

The primate struck seconds after the woman got off a bus for a Sunday picnic in rural Sai Kung Country Park in Hong Kong's New Territories near the Chinese border.

The monkey scratched her arm as it grabbed the box of egg tarts, police said. The shocked victim was taken to hospital for treatment for minor injuries, a spokesman said.

Hong Kong's rural New Territories are home to thousands of grey macaque monkeys, whose population has exploded in recent years because of the population shift to urban areas.

The monkeys usually keep clear of humans, but occasionally, hungry lone males will prey on hikers from the city unused to seeing monkeys and arriving in country parks with bags of food. (dpa)