India sends misbehaving monkeys back to school
Image: www.freedigitalphotos.net
Misbehaving monkeys in the Indian state of Punjab are to be sent to school in a bid to teach them manners.
Punjab’s population of around 65,000 wild monkeys are a growing problem in the region as deforestation means that more of the creatures are moving to towns, cities and villages in search of food.
But officials accuse the monkeys of attacking children, snatching food from people and widespread vandalism, including tearing down television aerials and washing lines and damaging scooters and motorbikes as they forage for food, according to a BBC report.
“Besides people landing in hospitals after encounters with monkeys, the animals also often get hurt when house owners try to chase them away or keep them out by using live electric wires and other means,” said chief wildlife warden RK Luna.
Now the state government has unveiled plans to build India’s first monkey rescue and rehabilitation centre to take in the worst offenders and train them to be less aggressive.
“We have proposed a composite facility where scientific methods will be employed to change and alter the social habits of the monkeys,” Luna said.
The site of the centre was previously a monkey jail.