Indian monkeys point to life in the big city

January 18, 2009 · Print

New Delhi, June 30, 2007. - The "beautiful" Indian middle class between worried and powerless attend to the birth of a new urban tribe that sneaks into offices and markets cryptic and does not hesitate to steal as it gets to them: the monkeys have been organized in the city.
The monkey menace has even reached India's upper house, where a senator denounced the existence of "battalions of monkeys" and even asserts that a group of these invaded your kitchen, amid the laughter of the representatives.
But the problem does not invite the laughter, according to experts, attracted by better living conditions and food, at least 50,000 monkeys might have migrated to cities of a country in full development, which is between 60 and 70 percent simian population of India.
"Many Monkeys prefer urban areas because they get easy and nutritious food," said Prabal Sarkar, an expert in macaques. "They are organized in large groups for safety reasons, and if half a provocation brutally attack people. Women and children are more susceptible because they show fear, "he added.
The urban tribe hairy plot to damage trees, uprooting plants, destroy electrical cables and stealing food to children, and to passers represent a threat whose bite means jumping 14 shots of healing.
Sometimes, the intrepid monkeys sneak into residential enclaves, offices and markets, where they attack people to get their food, but sometimes have even take the law into their own hands by invading and destroying court files.
"One day, when I got home, I found a group of monkeys organizing a feast. Jars had taken food from the kitchen and sat at the table enjoying the menu. What a party, "he told Efe that a housewife had to expel a broom.
Well fed and sheltered by the buildings, the monkeys have managed to adapt to the environment and reproduce very rapidly, which has led to rampant overpopulation problem that has led experts to ask for control measures.
But it is not easy, because first you have to hunt them: "Unlike other animals that are easily soothed, monkeys sit on the roofs or trees, and any attempt to drogarles is dangerous," says Sarkar.
The problem of the monkeys was unleashed two years ago the Ministry of Environment of New Delhi to order the transfer of macaques to the forests of neighboring regions.
Following this directive, the Department of Animal Life in Delhi last year captured some 250 individuals in the capital, and released them in the Palpur Kuno forest region of Madhya (middle). But after its "liberation" monkeys, urban and uprooted, began to vandalize the nearby villages.
Local officials reacted to this new urban threat to refuse to accept new batches of macaques, so these campaigns are still at home in New Delhi.
Monkeys take refuge in the capital's green areas of the city, waiting for the food-safe bananas, coconuts and mangoes, which will provide many devout Hindus, for whom the monkeys are living heirs of the god Hanuman.
In fact, the "battalion" of monkeys delhíes now has its best umbrella in a Hanuman statue 30 meters recently opened in the west of the city, a delight for children traveling on the subway without burying that runs right in front of the mouth of God.
That condition "divine" has spawned a small industry with places frequented by apes, where several merchants have installed positions of bananas, while other dealers, more savvy, amaestran the apes to dance and get tips or beg, before to take home by bicycle.
Despite the clear exploitation, the dancing monkeys do not averse to work: outside concerns for and happy with their misdeeds and gestures almost human, monkeys Indians have adapted to the daily life of the cities even in what regards overcrowding and noise.
Finally, after all, live in the city has its drawbacks

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