Faced with increasing complaints of monkeys marauding agricultural farms across the state, the Karnataka Forest Department has decided to embark on a sterilisation programme to control the rising number of these simians. The problem has been acute in the Shivamogga region, around the catchment areas of river Varada, where farmers have increasingly lost their patience with monkeys destroying crops. In other places like Hassan and Chamarajanagar, incidents of monkeys being killed or being caged in cruel conditions are being reported. In a bid to temper the rising man-animal conflict, the Department has decided to target three species, the Bonnet Macaques, Rhesus Macaques and Gray (Hanuman) langurs for the population control programme.
A pilot run will be conducted in Sagara taluk of Shivamogga district, which has reported some of the highest instances of monkey raids on agricultural fields and villages. Monkey menace has been rampant, around River Varada region and it is a common occurrence to have Bonnet Macaques in a troop raid crops of sweet corn, sugarcane, jowar, banana plantations, vegetables, areca nut, coconut plantations among others causing huge losses to farmers. These raids are high in Sagara, Soraba, Banavase, Siddapura, Talaguppa and adjoining places.
Speaking to TNM, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Wildlife, Vijay Kumar Gogi said that the programme would be undertaken in a small way on an experimental basis before taking it up in the rest of the state. Gogi said, “We have to train a few veterinarians specifically for this and an order has been placed for specially designed mobile vans for the purpose.” As of now, the Forest Department has opted for a surgical method of sterilisation as opposed to the immuno contraceptive method, which involves catching the monkey and tranquilising it and administering the vaccine. According to Gogi, surgical methods will be employed in areas where the menace is rampant. “Other methods such as the chemical method of sterilisation are available but not at an advanced stage so surgical methods will be the right approach,” he opined. Such a programme has been attempted in Himachal Pradesh wherein forest officials have sterilised male monkeys through vasectomy and in females through endoscopic tubectomy.
In India, the only other state which has experimented with monkey sterilisation is Himachal Pradesh. The state recognised its burgeoning monkey population and began its sterilisation programme as early as 2006 and sterilised both male and female monkeys. The monkey population, according to state statistics, dropped from 3.2 million in 2004 to 2.1 million in 2015. Last year, Delhi toyed with the idea of sterilising monkeys using laparoscopic sterilisation, but dropped the idea as forest officials were unsure about the efficacy of such a procedure.
Though protected under Schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, monkeys can be declared as vermin if the Union government believes it to be a danger to life and property and can give permission to cull the monkeys for a specific period of time. Himachal Pradesh has made use of this a few times and have culled monkeys to reduce population. But unlike Himachal which had problems with monkeys destroying property, snatching food and attacking humans repeatedly, the state is facing problems with monkeys raiding crops in several areas. Also Karnataka does not have any data on the monkey population in the state.
While the Forest Department does not entertain any ideas of culling monkeys, they are also keenly aware that the sterilisation process is also a huge challenge and might not necessarily provide the solution they are looking for. The Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme to control the stray dog population has had minimal success, but the Department realises that the monkeys entering agricultural areas, if unchecked will further intensify the man-animal conflict.
In fact, there is already opposition from the villagers to releasing the monkeys near the villages after sterilisation. “We are still discussing the best way to rehabilitate the monkeys after sterilisation, since some villagers have objected to their release in the village limits,” Gogi admitted. A detailed plan is being prepared by Shivamogga Chief Conservator of Forests Vasanth Reddy on how to implement the programme.
Rhesus Macaques (Image credit: Dinesh Shiravala)
It is still unclear whether the move to reduce the population will successfully solve the problem of monkey menace or stop the monkeys from approaching humans. Prof Mewa Singh, a primatologist from the University of Mysore had assisted the Himachal Pradesh forest department when it decided to conduct its own population control programme for the monkeys. “There is no need to sterilise male monkeys as it does not help in reducing the population. It is better to target only female monkeys. However, in terms of behaviour, male monkeys become less aggressive after the procedure, but there will be no change in the behaviour of females, which undergo the procedure,” he cautioned.
Environmentalist and animal activist Arun Prasad of Bengaluru, observed that sterilisation programme on monkeys might not achieve the desired result. “It might bring down the numbers, but monkeys stray into human vicinity in search of food and water and not for mating alone. Even after sterilisation, the monkeys will stray into fields for food and water for their survival. The migratory paths of monkeys have been blocked making way for fields, roads and villages have expanded. Fruit bearing trees even inside forest areas have dwindled, forcing monkeys to enter fields and villages in search of food and water.” he explained. He felt the Forest Department would enjoy better success if they focused on planting more fruit bearing trees to supply food to monkeys, which he felt would reduce man-animal conflicts. “Introducing crop insurance for farmers for crop losses by animals will also go a long way in mitigating man-animal conflicts,” he added.
In the last 15 years, monkey raids have continued relentlessly. Unable to find any food while foraging in the forests, monkeys are making their way towards villages and fields in increasing numbers. Dinesh Shiravala, a farmer leader from the Sagara region says that monkeys have lost their fear of humans entirely. “They are regularly spotted on houses dislodging roof tiles and dropping coconut shells after consuming coconut water and among other nuisances. There are some families who have shifted elsewhere unable to cope with this,” he noted. To add to their woes, farmers whose fields have been raided by monkeys, do not get compensation for crop loss, unlike when they face damage by wild animals like elephants, gaurs, wild boars and deer.
This combined frustration has resulted in indiscriminate killing of monkeys. In a gruesome incident in Hassan in July 2021, irate villagers had poisoned 38 monkeys to death and stuffed them in a gunny bag before dumping them on the roadside near Belur of Hassan.
A baby monkey rescued in Chamarajanagar (Image credit: Raghu Sakleshpur)
Recalling the incident, Raghu Sakleshpur of Akhila Karnataka Prani Daya Sangha, said he and his friends noticed monkeys stuffed in a gunny bag and managed to rescue one of them while others had succumbed due to suffocation and injuries. Later, villagers gathered and conducted final rites of the poisoned monkeys.
In another incident in August 2021, villagers of Kalagawadi in Yelandur taluk of Chamarajanagar, fed-up with monkeys hired monkey catchers and locked 60 monkeys both adults and young ones, in a cage without food or water, where they were packed so tightly that the monkeys were unable to breathe. The monkeys were rescued nearly 72 hours later and they were later released in Biligiriranga Hills, a tiger reserve, by forest officials of Chamarajanagar.
Girisha is a freelance journalist who writes on wildlife and environment issues.