Dept now pins hopes on vermins’ changing food habits

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 30

Even as none of the local residents are coming forward to shoot monkeys in the state capital, the Forest Department is trying to change their food habits in captivity and then releasing them into the forests.

After undertaking a study to change the food habits of urban monkeys in captivity, the Forest Department has started the process of releasing the monkeys into the forest area. This experiment was undertaken in the Tutikandi enclosures, housing 125 monkeys. An effort was made to wean away monkeys from the human food they have got accustomed to and develop a taste for wild fruits and greens which are easily available in the forests.

With there being high concentration of monkeys in the town, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had granted permission to shoot monkeys after declaring them as vermin but till date not even a single individual have come forward to kill them. 

“Based on a scientific study undertaken by the Forest Department, we have succeeded in changing the feeding habits of monkeys so that they start living in forests,” said Tarun Kapoor, Additional Chief Secretary, Forest and Urban Development. He said some batches of monkeys had been kept in captivity and fed forest produce.

As per the last survey done to assess monkey population in the state, the number had declined to 2.07 lakh from 2.26 lakh in 2005. However, many people have questioned the figure as they argue that on ground their number seems to have gone up. The department has made available the services of members of the Eco Task Force to undertake scientific culling of monkeys in Shimla. Monkeys were declared vermin in 38 tehsils all over the state on May 6, 2016 for one year but even then nobody came forward to kill them.