Monkey vs monkey
Author: syed
A Langur tackles
the monkey menace at a railway workshop near Vijayawada
waiting for work: Common Langurs kept for sale at Vissannapet in Krishna district.
VIJAYAWADA: The Railways have hired a monkey to keep troops of other monkeys out of its wagon workshop at Guntupalli near here.
Only a monkey, it would seem, can check its ilk. Putting a Common Langur (Presbytis entellus) in charge seems to have become the most cost-effective way of checking groups of the more common Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mul atta) from indulging in vandalism.
About 60 Rhesus monkeys used to attack the workers at the railway workshop. These monkeys were stopped in their tracks after the langur was pressed into service.
Families in the upland areas of Krishna district, meanwhile, see langurs as a god-sent. They catch langurs and sell them to those who want to keep the Rhesus monkeys at bay.
Some primates are fiercely territorial. They defend the resource area they exploit, usually by means of an exchange of visual or vocal signals by adult males. Chasing is rare, and when it occurs, it is mostly a ‘ritual.’ This is the principle involved in the strategy employed by the Railways.
Payal, a langur that guarded Parliament House from bands of Rhesus monkeys, was in the news earlier. In fact, the Delhi Government recruited langurs to protect four of its premises.
But is it legal to keep a langur in captivity? The minimum punishment for capturing and selling one is three years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs.10,000.
The Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 does not permit them being kept in captivity. Even a zoo should not acquire, sell or transfer them without prior permission.
Yet they are often sold like pets. Earlier, forest officials themselves would recommend the use of langurs to control Rhesus Macaques, but of late there has been a change in attitude. A racket of langur trafficking was busted in Krishna district recently.
A.V. Joseph, Andhra Pradesh’s Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), said action would be taken against animal traffickers under the Act. The Common Langur and the Rhesus Macaque are listed in Part I of Schedule II of the Wildlife Act. Section 9 of the Act, which deals with prohibition of hunting, says: “No person shall hunt any wild animal specified in Schedule I, II, III and IV.” The Act defines the word “hunting,” not only as killing but, “capturing, poisoning, snaring, and trapping.”
