Bengaluru: After elephants, tigers and leopards, the dwindling forest cover has now brought monkeys in conflict with human settlements. Those residing in Mulbagal and Bangarpet taluks of Kolar district have to now contend with hordes of monkeys, who target pedestrians and barge into houses in search of food.
In Mulbagal taluk alone, there are villages that have 30 to 100 monkeys. These primates have been forced out of their habitats due to depleting forest cover that straddle the tri-junction of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Due to scarcity of food and water caused by persisting drought, the monkeys have now entered villages.
Unlike other shy denizens of the forests, the monkeys show an easy familiarity with human habitats and get aggressive while foraging for food. Since the villagers worship Hanuman, they are averse to killing the marauding primates, but they also feel helpless about the problem.
"Out of 325 villages in Mulbagal Taluk, at least 300 are affected. In each village, there are between 30 and 50 monkeys. However in Devarayasamudra, over a hundred have taken refuge," said M.V.N. Rao, director of NGO Grama Vikas.
Professional trappers are being called and they are charging an exorbitant amount.
"We have at least 40 monkeys in our village, Honnasettihalli. We called trappers, and they demanded Rs 300 per monkey caught. We decided it is cheaper to construct a cage to catch them," Rao said.
The trappers snare the monkeys, and take them to the Kaundinya forest near Chittoor and release them. But most of them make their way back.
Moreover, villagers allege the trappers take the monkeys all the way to the forest, but release them somewhere close to where they were caught, in order to save transportation costs.
Forest dept apathy
Village residents have sent many messages to the Forest Department about the havoc caused by the monkeys, but there is no response, they complain. The forest officials seem to consider monkeys to be not wild animals, but a mere nuisance, the villagers complain.
"People from many villages approach our NGO for financial help to pay trappers. But there is only so much we can do," Rao said.
For the village residents, the monkeys are a serious menace. They accost anyone passing by and snatch anything that appears to be food in their hands. They are fearless and pounce on anyone, regardless of age or appearance. School-going children and women are their favourite targets. In Vaddarahalli of Bangarpet Taluk, most of the houses are tiled. The monkeys remove tiles when the inmates are out on work, grab whatever they take fancy to, mainly food, and scoot.
To add to the woes of the residents, the monkeys ransack the houses and cause general mayhem.
