‘Monkeys need to be declared vermin in entire Himachal’

What are you doing next?

There is a PIL pending in the High Court titled People for Animals and another v/s State of Himachal. The court had stayed the government’s 2010 order to allow farmers kill monkeys to save their crops. We will move an application in High Court and put the MoEF notification on the record. We will seek directions to allow killing since the monkeys have been declared vermin.

How will the killings be done?

The government, i.e. the wildlife department, will not be involved in such killing. No teams will be formed. We will only authorise wildlife officers to grant permission to the citizens who apply for a license for killing.

How will carcasses be disposed?

There will be an SOP for this as well. We have proposed that the carcasses be incinerated /buried in presence of a committee comprising forest officials. Other community leaders should also be involved. A proper record will be maintained by forest guard or beat incharge.

Will declaring monkeys as vermin solve the problem?

No, this is just one of the methods. Sterilisation has been a very successful method, which Himachal has pioneered .Some states have started replicating it.

The government has also taken help from California on the issue

A team of scientists currently in Shimla from California are doing an extensive study on monkey behaviour. Their findings will help wildlife department frame new schemes.

The government has also proposed Vanar Vatikas.

Yes, this is another proposal sent to the Centre for approval. We propose to keep monkeys in Vanar Vatikas where they will be semi-free in an area of 1.2 hectares. Only sterilised monkeys will be kept there.