The Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Monday placed a number of cages in east Delhi’s Shastri Park area, two days after a monkey attacked 25 people there.
Delhi officials blame shortage of monkey catchers for continuation of the menace
NEW DELHI: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Monday placed a number of cages in east Delhi’s Shastri Park area, two days after a monkey attacked 25 people there.
Four children were among the 25 people attacked in Shastri Park late on Saturday. The incident comes three weeks after Delhi’ deputy mayor SS Bajwa died trying to fend off an attacking monkey.
Officials are blaming inadequate staff for the continuation of the menace. The capital has just six monkey catchers.
“We have put up a sufficient number of cages in Shastri Park and also deployed a monkey catcher for the area to catch the unruly monkeys. The captured monkeys will be relocated to the Asola Wildlife Sanctuary,” MCD spokesman Deep Mathur said.
He also admitted that so far no major success has been achieved in curbing the monkey menace in the capital.
Mathur said: “There are only a few catchers in the city for an estimated 10,000-20,000 monkeys. Nobody wants to take this job, possibly because of religious sentiments and the dangers involved.”
A senior veterinary services official said: “We had even sent teams to various states to find monkey catchers but the efforts largely remained unfruitful. Two-three have shown interest but said they would join later.”
The monkey menace has increased over the years because of the continuous shrinking of the animals’ natural habitats.
All efforts to relocate them have been futile so far. The areas affected by the monkey menace include Patparganj, Anand Vihar, Mehrauli, Kamla Nagar and parts of Lutyen’s.
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