Vijayawada: Monkey menace is a cause of serious worry to the villagers of Taduvai in Achampet mandal of Palnadu district. Simians are destroying guava plantations, entering houses, stealing food and even attacking the people.
The forest department, flooded with complaints, went into action and found nearly 500 monkeys are either living in the village or are coming in from nearby forest areas for their food in Taduvai and other fringe villages.
It was noticed that some civic bodies were catching monkeys and leaving them in the forests. These are illegal acts, a violation of provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, forest officials said.
“If any area is facing monkey menace, the local authority should inform the concerned forest authorities. They would, in turn, assess the gravity of the trouble, catch the monkeys and release them in the forest areas where there are sources of food like fruit-bearing trees,” officials said.
If these are released in the forest areas where there is no source of food, they will come searching for food in human habitations, eat away the fruit crops and cause trouble to the local villagers.
The forest authorities would try and create awareness among the villagers on how to deal with monkeys and not to provoke them. As a long-term measure, bio-fencing can be done by raising certain varieties of plants like cactus genus in such trouble- prone areas. They grow up in heights of about two metres and serve as a natural barrier to simians invading the villages.
Officials are also planning to play recorded sounds of tiger, langur, bursting of crackers etc as a deterrent, which is done in several parts in the country to keep monkeys away.
Palnadu district forest officer (territorial) Ramachandra Rao, said, “We are trying to identify those catching monkeys and releasing them in forest areas illegally without our permission. We will book them as per norms.”
