No pill too unpalatable for intrepid monkeys
Hungry vervets turn to life of petty crime
MONKEYS have been sneaking into Chatsworth homes to raid kitchens — and medicine cabinets.
Residents in the south Durban suburb say the monkey business in their area has been on the increase. The hungry animals enter their homes in groups and rummage through drawers, fridges and medicines.
After hearing a scuffle in a bedroom, Trevor Daniels, 52, ran upstairs to find a troop of monkeys sitting on his bed, eating heart and diabetes medication.
“They opened the packets and sat down and were eating. It’s a difficult situation for the person the pills belong to, because you can’t go back to the hospital and say monkeys stole and ate your medication. They won’t give you more pills, so you just have to wait for your next appointment.”
Daniels said he understood that the animals were “just hungry” and looking for food, but the intrusions into his home were becoming more frequent.
“We don’t want to harm them, but the police and the local animal rescue places say there are too many of these monkeys to control and that we must just squirt water at them to get them out of the house. But when we do that, the monkeys get aggressive. So what do we do now?”
Another resident, a 63year-old, came home recently to find all her medication scattered across the front
You can’t go back to the hospital and say monkeys stole and ate your medication. They won’t give you more, so you just have to wait for your next appointment
garden of the flat in which she lives.
Savannah Park resident Thumba Govender, 66, said although the vervet monkeys had left his medication untouched, his kitchen was another story.
“They suddenly started coming inside in groups. They come into the kitchen and go on the stove and open the pots and stick their fingers in the food.”
A Crossmoor community policing forum member, Tony Govender, called for a dedicated police team to deal with the problem, which is “really growing out of hand”.
“Although we respect that we have to give them space since we have taken over their habitat, the troops are getting more and more aggressive at times and it is difficult to keep them from entering homes and taking off with whatever they get hold of.
“In the past, the metro police had a special unit that used to catch them and then release them into the wild. The city council must recon- sider this issue. Residents cannot leave their windows and doors open, even on hot and humid summer days.”
But Steve Smit, coordinator of the Westville-based nonprofit organisation Monkey Helpline, said it was a myth that there was an overpopulation of monkeys in the area.
“The reality is that monkeys live in troops and forage only within their territory. Development has put a huge amount of pressure on monkeys.
“They aren’t able to create food or hunt to survive. They must forage for what nature provides. With that being taken away by humans taking over their ranges, they tend to go where food is still available.
“They see food on a table unattended, think it’s available and go in.”
Smit said vervet monkeys, when threatened, bared their teeth and chattered to deter an aggressor, but this ought not to be taken as a sign that the animal was about to attack.
“Turning and running won’t help. You can’t outrun a monkey. The best advice for pensioners who feel vulnerable is that they should remember that they are in control of the situation, not the monkey.
“Show no fear, show respect and spray them with a jet of water to chase them away.
“The monkeys will learn pretty quickly that you aren’t easy pickings.
“They will go where they feel safe.
“All they are doing is trying to survive in a world that is increasingly monkey-unfriendly.”
Contact Steve Smit on 082-659-4711 or Carol Booth on 082-411-5444, or e-mail steve@monkeyhelpline.co.za