Sterilization to fight monkey menace

Thiruvananthapuram: With the rowdy monkey menace on the rise in various parts of the state, the Forest Department has decided to attempt sterilisation of monkeys to control their breeding.

The project will be first carried out on an experimental basis in Wayanad district with the technical support of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University.

“Sterilisation had always been thought of as an option but the department was hesitant till now because its effect on the monkey population was uncertain,” chief wildlife warden Valliyil Gopinathan said. “However, the success of the operation in Himachal Pradesh has now emboldened us to try out the strategy here,” he added.

Himachal Pradesh, where the monkey menace is a major election issue, has reportedly sterilised over 70,000 monkeys since 2005.

But the man who had once led the charge against monkeys in Himachal is disillusioned.

“If sterilisation has to be effective it has to be carried out on at least 70 percent of the monkey population in an area within a specific time frame,” said Dr Tanwar Kuldip, once a senior Himachal Pradesh Forest Department official and now an activist of All India Kisan Sabha. “But in Himachal, the sterilisation drive was done in a piecemeal manner making it ineffective,” he added.

Sterilisation is not an immediate solution either. “A monkey has a life span of 25-30 years. So if a five-year-old rowdy monkey is sterilised, the problem will continue for another 20-25 years,” he said. Wildlife expert Dr Nameer considers sterilisation ineffective.

“Sterilising all the monkeys in a troop is impractical. But the other option of selective castration (of alpha males) will be futile as lesser males will become the new alpha males,” he said.