Monkeys sterilised in HP to get tattooed
In an innovative idea to mark and identify monkeys which are being sterilised at various centres in the state, the wildlife wing of the Himachal Pradesh forest department has decided to tattoo the simians.
Monkeys have been bleeding the state government financially. In the last three years, the animals attacked 674 people, and the government had to pay a compensation of `28 lakh to the injured. The monkey menace has also forced farmers in 2,300 villages across the state to leave agriculture and turn to other occupations. The move aims to give fresh impetus to the monkey birth control programme.
In an innovative idea to mark and identify monkeys which are being sterilised at various centres in the state, the wildlife wing of the Himachal Pradesh forest department has decided to tattoo the simians.
Monkeys have been bleeding the state government financially. In the last three years, the animals attacked 674 people, and the government had to pay compensation of `28 lakh to the injured. The monkey menace has also forced farmers in 2,300 villages across the state to leave agriculture and turn to other occupations.
The move aims to give fresh impetus to the monkey birth control programme. The government has so far spent `20 crore on sterilising 1.10 lakh monkeys. In 2006, the government, with an aim to control the burgeoning monkey population in the state, had rolled out an ambitious programme
THE MONKEY MENACE HAS FORCED FARMERS IN 2,300 VILLAGES TO LEAVE AGRICULTURE AND TURN TO OTHER OCCUPATIONS
to sterilise them. Initially, it set up three sterilisation centres in Shimla, Gopalpur in Kangra district and Sastar in Hamirpur district. Later, five more centres were added -Boul (Una), Paonta Sahib (Sirmour), Sarol (Chamba), Salapar (Mandi) and Ispur (Una). “Till now, we did not have a foolproof system to put identification marks on sterilised monkeys. Now monkeys undergoing vasectomy will be tattooed,” principal secretary, forest and environment, Tarun Kapoor, told Hindustan Times. Monkeys have caused tremendous loss to crops in the state. An agriculture department report assessed an annual loss of `184.28 crore to agricultural crops. Similarly, monkeys and birds caused a loss of `150.10 crore annually to horticultural crops.