Catch monkeys now, this is their mating season

New Delhi: To get rid of the monkey menace in New Delhi, an expert on monkey behaviour has advised the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to put in all their afforts to “catch monkeys now” as this is the best season to capture them.

Iqbal Malik, who runs Vatavaran, an NGO on wild animals, said, “The period between November and January is ideal to translocate monkeys out of Delhi. It’s winter and their mating season as well. So the monkeys would be found huddled together and it’s easier to capture them.”

About 15,000 monkeys in Delhi have been in the eye of a storm after the death of S S Bajwa, deputy mayor of MCD due to a monkey attack on Saturday. Bajwa fell from his balcony when a monkey attacked him.

However, MCD is short of monkey catchers. “We need about 25 professional monkey-catchers. At present, we have just five of them,” said Deep Mathur, MCD spokesman, while reacting to Malik’s suggestion.

Even translocation of monkeys out of Delhi will not make the capital free of monkey, feel MCD officials. The translocation of monkeys to Asola and Bhatti mines (outskirts of south Delhi) on the orders of the Delhi HC has not been free of problems. First, there were reports of people living nearby being biten by monkeys. Then some of the monkeys shifted returned to their old habitats.

MCD officials also alleged that every time they set out to capture monkeys, they were harassed by NGOs. “They (NGOs) bring up charges of cruelty towards animals,” they alleged.

Mathur said it was difficult to find professional monkey catchers.

“Most of them are labourers who are paid only Rs 240 for every monkey captured. Considering that they’ve to spend on transport, cages and food, this amount is not at all reasonable. Moreover, during the harvesting season, they leave for work on their farms,” he said.

Source: mumbaimirror.com