The Indian government has begun sterilizing monkeys after locals were terrorized by monkeys.

The Indian government has launched a monkey control campaign by sterilizing various villages in Pithoragarh district across the border from Baitadi. The Indian government is conducting sterilizing to control the number of monkeys in a way that will have a long-term effect.

Locals are also worried about the monkey terror in the Dasharathchand Municipality area of ​​Baitadi along the Mahakali River. There is no help from Nepal to control the monkey terror. Many settlements here have become deserted due to the monkeys. Most farmers have left their fields barren. Local Laxmi Nath said that it has been more than seven years since everyone in the village stopped farming after the monkeys started destroying crops. She said that the fields that used to produce good crops including corn and wheat have now become bushes.

The Indian government is launching a sterilizing campaign to control the monkeys after they started causing terror in various areas of Pithoragarh district. Pramod Bhatta, president of the Jhulaghat Trade Association, said that the monkeys started entering homes when the locals started leaving their fields fallow after the monkeys started destroying crops and attacking people. He said that he had requested the government to control them. “Raghav Bhatta’s hand was broken while chasing away the monkeys that were terrorizing his house,” he said. “The government has launched a sterilization campaign to stop the terror and prevent the number of monkeys from increasing.” Indian forest workers have been taking the monkeys to Haldwani, a city in Uttarakhand, to be sterilized.

More than 550 monkeys have been captured from Jhulaghat, Gaurihat, Bishkholi, Bagattoli, Gethigada, Ranwa, Majirkanda, Lek, Choudi, Kharkyuda, Doli, Jamirpani and Lamtada areas of Pithoragarh district and taken for sterilization, said Dinesh Joshi, ranger at the Pithoragarh Forest Department District Office. ‘The sterilization was done to prevent the existing number of monkeys from increasing,’ he said, ‘This was done because the number of monkeys cannot increase after sterilization.’

The Indian Forest Department has come up with a trick to capture monkeys by placing fruits inside an iron cage to take them for sterilization. The door closes automatically when the monkeys enter the cage to eat the fruits, so the monkeys cannot come out. After that, they are captured and sent to the Haldwani-based forest office for sterilization.
Ranger Joshi said that after sterilization, they are brought back to the same area where they were caught and released. He said that 565 monkeys have been caught and sterilized under the Pithoragarh Forest Office so far. They are sterilized and released within a week of being caught. Ranger Joshi said that although this method of monkey control does not give immediate results, it will show results in the future.

Residents of Dasharathchand Municipality have also been demanding monkey control for years. The locals have stopped farming after the monkeys started destroying crops and fruits due to them.

Many families have moved out of the village after the monkeys started eating not only the crops but also the food grains kept inside, said Ghanshyam Bhatta of Dasharathchand-5. ‘They break down the closed doors after not getting any food in the garden,’ he said, ‘many families have been displaced from the village due to the terror of the monkeys.’

The previous term of the people’s representative in the municipality had launched a ‘drive-away campaign’ to control the monkeys. At that time, locals and people’s representatives started making noise by whistling, shooting guns, and bursting firecrackers to drive the monkeys away. After it was unsuccessful, the next year the municipality purchased a device that made a sound like a gun and distributed it to the neighborhoods, but the monkey terror could not be controlled.

Kaishila Chand, deputy mayor of Dasharathchand Municipality, said that since she was elected in 2079 BS, she has been personally providing financial support for monkey control in some affected wards. ‘We have also hired a watchman to drive away the monkeys with personal investment.’ "It has not been of any long-term benefit," he said. "Now it is necessary to find long-term solutions to reduce the monkey menace rather than short-term ones."
Although the municipality has allocated a budget for monkey control in the current fiscal year, there has been no discussion on how to implement it yet, she said.