Himachal to raise eco-task force to cull monkeys

Himachal Pradesh on Monday announced that it will constitute an eco-task force for scientifically culling monkeys that were declared as vermin in the state.

The 'monkey menace' across the state has caused crop losses worth hundreds of crores of rupees in recent years.

A decision to hire the eco-task force -- already working in the state to bring greenery to the hills -- for the culling of the monkeys was taken at a high-powered committee meeting chaired by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh here.

As religious sentiments prevent people from killing monkeys, the task now would be assigned to the eco-task force. It will be assisted by the state forest department, an official statement said.

The Chief Minister said that since the monkey menace had increased in cities and villages, the eco-task force should focus on areas where their number had increased extraordinarily. He said the government would also open a rescue centre near Shimla.

Additional Chief Secretary Tarun Kapoor said that to identify the sterilised monkeys, permanent tattooing was being done in the middle of the forehead, adding that the mobile monkey sterilisation units would also be useful when made operational.

He said a 'Rescue Centre for Life Care' would come up near Shimla having a capacity to house around 1,000 rogue and sterilised monkeys.

Kapoor said a list of 53 tehsils and sub-tehsils have been sent to the Union Ministry of Environment where monkeys could be declared as vermin to provide much needed relief to farmers and horticulturists.

He added that soon a survey would be conducted jointly with the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun to declare the wild boar, the sambar deer and the blue bull as vermin animals.

According to the wildlife department, about 125,266 monkeys have been sterilised in the state till March out of total estimated population of 207,614 as per a survey conducted in 2015.

--IANS

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