76 Monkeys In Tamil Nadu Packed Tightly In Cage
Update: 2022-07-24 11:00 IST
The simians cramped inside an iron cage
The Atchirapakkam panchayat union in Chengalpet district and the forest department officers apprehended the 76 monkeys after residents reported them as a nuisance and crammed them into a small iron cage.
Animal rights activists referred to the action as inhumane, but forest range officer B. Venkatesan insisted that all protocol was followed. The same cage was used to contain every monkey. Within a half-hour, we released them into the Ramapuram reserve forest. We'll make sure they don't come back. The main problem is that the locals must understand they cannot feed these monkeys.
In a coordinated effort on Thursday and Friday, panchayat and forest officials managed to catch more than 300 monkeys. According to the executive officer of the panchayat, locals have been requesting that the monkeys be captured for more than two months because they have been breaking into their homes, stealing their food, and making it impossible for them to move around the streets. He said that there are some more monkeys here that might be caught on Monday.
When asked why 76 monkeys were kept in a single cage, the officer acknowledged that it was wrong but claimed that none of the monkeys were harmed and that they were freed after 30 minutes.
However, activists claimed that the forest service could have intervened sooner to safely capture the monkeys when they first arrived in the area. "These monkeys can no longer thrive in an unfamiliar environment. Food and water safety must be guaranteed. This treatment of animals by the forest department is appalling "activist Arun Prasanna remarked.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has designated the monkeys, known as bonnet macaques, as vulnerable.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, baboons returned to the bush once the villagers stopped feeding them and buried their waste, according to some animal welfare researchers. This month, a group was established to make recommendations for reducing confrontations between people and peafowl and people and monkeys in Tamil Nadu. Members promised to draught protocols soon.