It may sound strange but it happened to the astonishment of the hospital staff when an injured monkey (Rhesus Macaque) entered the surgery ward of the associated hospital of ‘Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali government medical college Srinagar Garhwal on Sunday and placed itself tamely on a desk.
After overcoming their initial surprise, the nurses of the ward tended this unique patient, cleaned its wounds and put antiseptic on them. After getting the required treatment, the simian went away like a thankful patient.
Narrating the incident, head of the surgery department of the hospital Dr K P Singh said that the macaque entered surgery ward at around 10 am on Sunday. “The animal was injured and appeared very weak.
staff present on the occasion gave water to the animal. A banana was also offered to it which was readily accepted. The nurse on duty then cleaned its wounds and applied Betadine cream over the injuries. After that the monkey quietly walked away,’’ he said.
It is learnt that the monkey was injured in a territorial fight with another monkey. The nurse treating this special patient, Sarla Purohit said that the monkey appeared calm and relaxed after its injury was treated. The unusual behavior of the monkey instantly became talking point of the hospital and town. Sringar resident Subhash Bhatt said that large number of monkeys reside in the medical college campus and since their observation power is strong, this particular monkey exactly knew where it had to go in case of an injury.
The Head of Department of Zoology DAV PG college here RK Johari said that the monkeys are known to copy human beings but it is improbable that one of them was intelligent enough to go to the hospital when it got injured. He said that the visit of injured monkey to the hospital appears more of a coincidence than a deliberate behavior.