by Mona Bhardwaj
Monkeying around is not just a phrase for the residents of DLF Phase 2. It’s become a serious business. Several incidents are reported by residents on daily basis where monkeys have ransacked gardens, pots, entered homes, water tanks, picked food items from grocery delivery left at the gate, etc. One lives in constant fear of being attacked by one of them.
If one sits down to think why these primates invade residential areas. The answer is simple. We humans have taken over their space. Deforestation has led to no homes and no food for them. We share common ape ancestors and we should not forget that due to this reason the monkeys are adaptive by nature. They have adapted to the city noise and humans. They are no longer scared of street dogs, who to a great extent can scare them away.
Recent complaints by residents where videos were shared of monkeys entering a kitchen and ransacking it were reported to the RWA and QRT. Finally with the help of Office of Rama Rani Rathee, Muncipal Councillor MCG, a team of monkey catchers was sent to catch, cage and release them in Aravali forests.
The team got delayed by a day to arrive, as two of the hired catchers were bit by a monkey while catching them in some other sector. The team arrived on 1st October, and after almost three hours of attempt managed to catch only one monkey. The rest being smart ran away. RWA DLF 2 and QRT team gave its support and guided the catchers to the blocks where monkeys were sighted last.
While this monkey business remains to be sorted we definitely need experts to talk to residents and have a solution to this growing monkey malaise.
