Agra social activists seek removing monkeys out of 'protected species' list

Two days after a monkey snatched a 12-day-old key from his mother's lap and mauled him to death, a host of social activists and environmentalists Wednesday sought exclusion of simians from the list of protected species under the Wild Life Act.

The activists made the demand in a conference on monkey menace here.

"For over a decade, we have been demanding permission to transfer monkeys to forest areas and setting up of a facility to sterilise them, but so far we have failed to get the government's permission," said Satyamev Jayate trustee Mukesh Jain, addressing the conference.

It is high time that the monkeys should be removed from the protected species list under the Wild Life Act, 1972, he said.

According to the Agra Municipal Corporation officials, the number of monkeys in the city has gone up beyond 25,000.

"The number of monkey bites are increasing by the day and citizens are scared of moving freely in the city. Monkey attacks have become so frequent that women and children are afraid of going out," said social activist Shravan Kumar Singh.

The conference on monkey menace also passed a resolution, demanding adequate compensation to the victims of monkey attacks.

"It is the duty of the government to protect its citizens. If it cannot do that, it should pay compensation the victim or his family," it said.