Dr. Banarsi Lal
Monkeys are wreaking havoc in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Their burgeoning population and habitat shift from forests to towns has created a new level of man-animal conflict in this hilly UT. Monkeys damage the crops and leave farmers grappling with losses that have badly affected J&K economy thus affecting the livelihood of the farmers. Increasing human-animal conflicts are posing enormous threat to food insecurity for small resource poor hilly areas farmers living in and around traditional forest areas. Hilly areas farmers are mainly have five major problems viz. dwindling water resources and dry spells, invasion by exotic weeds like Lantana and Parthenium in pastures and grazing lands, Rhesus monkey menace and marketing issues due to difficult terrains that have affected the livelihood of farmers, leading to large scale migration and leaving families dependent on state-subsidised food rations. The worst sufferer of monkey menace are hilly states/UT viz. Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand. Nevertheless, other states like Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Delhi are also struggling to contain assaults by monkeys. The menace has now reached epic proportions with estimated loss of more than 3000 crores in India, While, in Himachal Pradesh direct and indirect damage to farm produce is estimated to around Rs.1000 crore annually. In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir about 250 villages in Jammu lose farm produce worth about Rs 33 crore every year because of attacks by wild monkeys. But it is strongly believed that exact estimates are much higher, around 300 – 500 crores and like Uttarakhand many village residents opt to sell their farmlands than grow crops in Reasi, Udhampur, Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Ramban, Rajouri, and Poonch districts. Besides damaging crops, over hundred people are bitten by monkeys every day and this results in huge expenditure on vaccines for the victims to avoid transmission of many other disease germs like the Herpes B virus10 due to such conflicts. Unlike other countries, the Indians have many religious and traditional beliefs about monkeys and their killing is not desired, but frequent conflicts have affected the traditional bond between man and monkey. The current methods of dealing with monkey menace are inefficient and only contributed to further accelerating the problem. Challenges remain to develop efficient management and conservation strategies to resolve the man-monkey conflicts. Behavioural ecologists find several issues with translocations of monkey as a solution, while sterilisation programmes did not meet expected results in Himachal Pradesh. A pilot project on oral contraceptives in a 20 square km area of the tree-lined institute, studying monkey behaviour and food habits is being attempted. Initial results have been found satisfactory and the scientists are confident that the contraceptive will keep the runaway monkey population down. Traditional and conventional ways are continued to remain crucial for the farmers in hilly region who are still practicing string to through stones (Gulail) and noise making methods like drum beating and firecrackers etc. to manage the monkey menace.
In an effort to find solution, we devised an innovative repelling sound device that mimic Baboon barking and validated the same in field situation under Jammu hills. The device was made out of simple metal paint container (1 liter capacity ).The lid of container remained open while a small circular whole (0.5 cm dia) was drilled in the centre of its bottom to which a 1 meter long string made of shoe lace was tied through a knot inside (Plate-1). This string is frequently dipped in a water-based solution as and when required and pulled against the bottom every time to produce the sound by holding with one hand while rubbing along the rope with another hand. The performance of this device was compared with two most commonly used methods in three different locations of village Ramkote in Kathua District of J&K viz Upper Ramkote, Lower Ramkote and Bhool each comprising 500 m2 area prone to attack by monkeys. The sound effect and frequency for each measure was also recorded. Each measure was practiced for 5 minute duration followed by an interval of 30 minute. All observations were recorded at the peak hour of activity (11 AM -1 PM) independently from a roof top. The mean numbers of monkey entering the area after each interval of treatment were recorded. After obtaining the preliminary data we distributed ten numbers of such devices to farmers of nearby villages and recorded their response accordingly.
Monkeys are the second largest population in primates, after humans. The deforestation has led to destruction of natural habitat. As a result, monkeys turn to villages and cities in search of food and shelter. Experts say the reason the population of monkeys has multiplied after their natural habitat was destroyed is because of their ability to adapt to new habitats. Human settlements provide monkeys easy access to food. As a result, the time they spent in the wild finding food is now being spent in procreation. There is a population explosion. Monkeys start stealing from humans. The onslaught by humans makes them more aggressive, increasing human monkey conflicts. According to the Primate Research Centre, Jodhpur, which is one of the three Union government run institutes on primates, more than 1,000 cases of monkey bites are reported every day in Indian cities. Almost all cities with high monkey population have abundant stories of monkeys “encroaching and destroying” property and “robbing” people. Besides dozens of incidents of minor injuries, three cases of monkey attacks in the recent past have been alarming, including one about a month back in Aminabad, Lucknow in which a 27 year old man died. In large Institute like SGPGIMS with huge reserve forest area, the monkeys have been encroaching into the patient care areas in search of food. Patients and attendants also feed monkeys due to the religious beliefs. This has led monkeys to settle in the hospital area due to easy availability of food. The problems created by monkeys were faced by institute like AIIMS also. In 2014, Monkeys damaged emergency oxygen storage tank in AIIMS causing panic. The Hospital administration at SGPGIMS has taken many steps to control the rampage by monkeys. In spite of all the steps taken, an incident of monkey menace has taken place in the Institute which has been studied with objectives to identify the underlying cause and impact in regards to loss of bed days or financial loss.
There is need to try to emulate the Himachal Pradesh’s sterilization drive in J&K also and for that purpose special budget needs to be sanctioned by the state Government. The government should also issue a notice that levies a fine on people feeding monkeys at roads, pilgrims and tourists sites. Feeding to the monkeys leads to abandon their natural habitat and they migrate towards villages and towns and create lot of problems to the people. Feeding, baiting and luring of monkeys are the offences under the Wildlife Protection Act. According to the experts the act of feeding makes them believe that humans are inferior to them. Combinations of strategies are needed to control the monkey menace in J&K. Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Reasi is promoting the ginger, turmeric, marigold, lemon grass, vetiver grass and geranium grasses in the district which are not affected by the monkeys and farmers can generate extra income and employment by commercially growing these crops. Also there is need to restore the forests so that monkeys remain confined in those areas.
The following measures are taken in crop protection from monkeys and wild animals:
- Manually guarding the fields: To protect the crops, farmers deploy labours during day and night or if fields are small, farmers on their own protect the crops. Farmers use crackers, gun fires for scaring away the monkeys / wild animals. Cost of labour is very high due to shortage of labour. Deployment of labour to guard field crops from monkey menace do not always guarantee 100% protection of crops due to human limitations of functioning in difficult terrain & adverse weather and night hours.
- Crop diversification :To avoid crop damage from monkey menace and wild animals, many farmers have changed their cropping pattern from traditional crops which are generally consumed by monkeys to newer crops like aloe vera, ginger, garlic, turmeric, marigold, medicinal and aromatic plants, which are not consumed / damaged by monkeys. Value addition in floriculture and lemongrass are opening new avenues of income and employment for the farmers of hilly areas. of
- Sterilising monkey to control population: HP Forest Department is undertaking sterilization of monkeys in Shimla, Hamirpur, Kangra and Unadistricts to control the monkey population. Till December 2013, a total of 77,280 monkeys were sterilised.H.P. Forest Department is leading the innovative programme of monkey sterilization to control the ever increasing population of monkeys. Four Monkey Sterilization Centres (MSCs) located at Tutikandi (Shimla), Sastar (Hamirpur), Gopalpur (Kangra) and Boul (Una) are operative in the State. The sterilization in males is done through thermocautericcoagulative vasectomy and in females through endoscopic thermocauterytubectomy. The impact of monkey sterilization programme in stabilizing the monkey population is visible in many pockets of the State. The full impact of sterilization on monkey population shall be discernible in future when sterilization of considerable monkey population shall be achieved.
III. The Solution:
While number of alternatives are practiced by farmers and government to protect the crops from damage by monkeys and wild animals, none of these assure 100% success in crop protection. A new technique of power fencing is seen as ultimate solution. The solar powered fence electrifies the fence with pulsating current and these pulses are the “shock” felt by an animal that touches an electrified fence. Unlike a conventional fence, an electric fence is a psychological barrier such that animals learn to respect the fence. Any periphery can be solar fenced, though the cost differs with respect to the area to be fenced.
IV. The Solar Power Fencing Technology:
The fence is like barbed wire fencing with multiple strands of plain wires and metal/cement/wooden posts to hold the strands in position. The wires carry high voltage current. The Solar Power Fence gives a sharp, short but a non-lethal shock to the intruder and creates psychological fear, against any tampering. The alarm incorporated in the system gets activated and alert the inmates of the protected area. Human and Animal safety
The electric shock is completely safe and non-lethal for human and animals. The animal / human touching the fence will keep himself away from the fence. As current is pulsating (not live) and passing at every 1 to 1.2 second and only for amilli-second (1000th of second) of time,the animal gets enough time to get away from the fence. Monkey Repellent
Monkeys can be expelled by the direct simulation on their central nerves, through the sonic/ultrasonic wave. The sonic/ultrasonic wave attacks the auditory and nervous system of pests causing pain and discomfort. The only high-powered ultrasonic monkey repeller with special “Multiplex Modulated Sweeping Ultrasonic Sounds” available in India. These high intensity ultrasonic sound waves (10-65 KHz) are out of the range of hearing of humans and most household pets, except pests. These nerve-crushing sounds directly penetrate their brain and nervous systems and make them uneasy and act abnormally-such as frantic jumping, stampeding which result in the voluntary repulsion against ultrasonic wave areas and monkeys find it impossible to stay in such radiated areas. The monkey repeller device can get rid of monkey menace and nuisance effectively.Ultrasonic wave causes great pain and discomfort to monkeys but does no harm to humans.
(The writer is Sr. Scientist & Head of KVK,
Reasi SKUAST-J).