Government to seek stakeholders’ opinion on culling of monkeys

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 24

Keen to evolve a mechanism to ensure scientific culling of monkeys after they have been declared vermin in selected tehsils, the state government has decided to seek the opinion of stakeholders, including farmers, animal rights activists, NGOs, elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions and all political leaders, on the issue.

Even as the issue of scientific culling of monkeys is still pending in the court with animal rights activists seeking stay on the declaration of monkeys as vermin by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest, the Forest Department is keen to take the feedback of everyone before the actual culling begins.

“I will be writing to the Chief Minister, ministers, MLAs, ex-MLAs, chairmen and vice-chairmen of boards and corporation to give in their suggestions or objections within 15 days so that we can see how the scientific culling can begin,” said Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri.

He added that though after the declaration of monkeys as vermin within the Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC) and in 39 other tehsils all over the state, anyone was free to kill a money but at the same time the Forest Department would also help in case there was a major monkey menace in a particular area. “I have asked the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden to hold consultations with the officers and the staff to evolve a strategy,” said Bharmouri.

The court hearing in the appeal against the order of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest declaring monkeys vermin is fixed for July 11. It is only after a clear-cut direction from the court is received that the Forest Department will be able to allow scientific culling of monkeys.

It was on March 29 this year that the Centre had declared monkeys as vermin within the Shimla MC for a period of six months. The number of moneys as per 2015 census stands at 2,452 within the Shimla MC and this figure is higher than the one recorded in the previous survey.

Even though the latest survey undertaken last year indicates that the number of monkeys in the state has come down by 18,500, the problem still persists. The simians cause massive damage to crops like maize, wheat, vegetables and fruit resulting in loss of crores of rupees every year.

Besides identifying a total of 348 hotpots having high concentration of monkeys, the survey indicated that some of the areas like Nurpur, Renuka, Rohru, Dalhousie, Bilaspur, Dharamsala and Pangi have registered an increase in the number of simians, which is a worrisome fact. The monkey population estimation was undertaken in 83 ranges spread over 27,276 sq kms, last year in June.