A group of Malaysian Buddhist monks, whose faith stipulates compassion for all living things, is looking for solutions to a severe stinging-ant infestation at their temple that has already sent one worshipper to hospital.

Unwilling to turn to pesticides, they are struggling to come up with a non-violent way of dealing with the problem.

The temple's chief monk, Boon Keng, was quoted by a local newspaper as saying that the monks had to "respect other living things" in the temple, according to an Associated Press report.

"When an ant drops on you, you must not flick it away or blow on it," he told the newspaper. "If you do, it will bite to hold on. You just have to shake it off."

A worshipper was bitten so badly last month that he was treated in hospital.

A temple disciple has tried to vacuum up the stinging red ants and release them in a nearby forest, but the infestation remained.

The 10 monks who call the temple home, along with hundreds of devotees, have been grappling with the problem for more than a year.

With files by the Associated Press