Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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November 12, 2007

More Human Casualties in India's Urban War on Monkeys
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1A38CC1:A6F02AD83191E16039E2AAFF67E6287A7F0EB4B66EA3A89D Some Hindus feed
monkeys in New Delhi, believing they are manifestations of god Hanuman
as monkeys terrorize residents The latest of India's ongoing monkey
attacks has resulted in as many as 25 people being injured in a Delhi
slum. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports from the Indian capital.







Monkeys and human are having an increasingly difficult time
co-existing in IndiaPolice say one woman was critically injured and as
many as two dozen other people were hurt, many of them children, when
a lone monkey terrorized slum dwellers in an east Delhi neighborhood.

Witnesses told reporters that the monkey tried to drag away some of
the children during the attack, which lasted several hours late
Saturday and early Sunday.

The capital is home to thousands of rhesus macaque monkeys, creating a
growing nuisance in recent years.

The director of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, S.P.S.
Ahlawat says the frequency and intensity of attacks is likely the
result of people encroaching on simian territory.







Langurs like this one have been brought into New Delhi to try to scare
off smaller monkeys terrorizing humans in the capital"They live in the
jungle, not in the cities," said Ahlawat. "So, erratic behavior of the
monkeys may be because of displacement from their own habitat."

The fight against the monkeys has become a legal issue. Courts have
ordered city authorities to do more to prevent such attacks.

The menace became front-page news again last month when Delhi deputy
mayor S.S. Bajwa fell to his death, apparently while trying to fend
off a troop of marauding monkeys on his terrace.

Dr. Ahlawat says reinforcements are needed from rural experts.

"There are many people who catch these monkeys," he added. "They are
professionals. The professionals should be gi





Monkeys grooming in an Indian national park in Rajasthanven a contract
for catching hold of these monkeys."

Authorities have hired some monkey catchers and even tried to use
langurs, a fiercer monkey the macaques fear, but with little success..

Some devout Hindus feed the city monkeys, believing they are
manifestations of the god Hanuman. Some have opposed efforts to catch
and relocate the animals.


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