An innovative strategy is being worked out to check the growing monkey menace. Wildlife officials are planning to control the monkey population by subjecting them to birth control measures.

Officials of the Central Zoo Authority in association with the National Primate Centre in California and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) are working out strategies. Monkeys will be caught and sterilised, while oral contraceptives will be mixed in food for those still at large. It is a common sight to find the gangs of red-bottomed Rhesus Macaques (common monkeys) across the cities — perched on Government buildings, residential apartments, temples and trees. They end up chewing TV and internet cables, snatch food from people and even attack them.

While acknowledging the urgent need to come out with an early solution to the problem, Dr PC Tyagi, from WII said that they were exploring ways to administer contraceptive pills to these animals. “However, we will first examine the likely impact of the drugs on primate behaviour before moving ahead,” he said. Vasectomies and sterilisation programmes are also being developed as part of a broader plan to curb the chaos being caused by gangs of these marauding monkeys.

Sources in the Central Zoo Authority said that a mixed approach was likely to be adopted in Uttarakhand and cities along the Himalayan foothills where thousands of monkeys were seen hanging around on the main roads causing threats to common man in hill towns. “One of the main advantages of oral contraception is that it is non-surgical. We will examine as to how it is working in other countries. We will carry out a trial and then go ahead. If there are problems with the dosage, we’d need to work that out,” Tyagi said.

However, they will ensure that any birth control measure do not have harmful effects on the animal or its behaviour, he added.  In certain cities like New Delhi, the larger, black- faced langur is deployed to scare away macaques. The situation worsened after the use and trade in langurs were banned early this year, compelling the wildlife officials to look for a solution. Wildlife activists have appreciated such efforts, saying this is a much better method than culling which was proposed last year by Himachal Pradesh.

According to Sanjukta Basa, wildlife activist from Odisha, “the increased monkey population in urban regions is the direct result of growing human and developmental activities. The habitat of these animals has diminished due to decreasing and fragmenting forest covers, thereby forcing them to acquire new habitats in urban areas.”