The #1 source for news about monkeys and apes

[kevin birch <kbirch AT pobox.com>]

http://www.irna.com/en/head/021003134715.ehe.shtml

 Monkeys in Assam develop special liking for the fairer sex

 Guwahati, Oct 3, IRNA -- 'Gods' in India's northeastern state of Assam
have become terrors with a special liking for the fairer sex --
putting human males into a quandary.
    Rampaging troops of monkeys, worshipped by Hindus as a one of the
gods, have developed a fancy for women and girls -- barging into homes
in daylight and snatching away clothes and playing pranks.
    "Up to 20 monkeys roam around in my locality, entering homes
during the daytime when most of the male folks are out on work,"
Rashmi Borthakur, a housewife in Guwahati, Assam's capital, said.
    From eating cooked food in the kitchen to plundering belongings
inside rooms, the monkeys have been wreaking havoc in most of Assam's
towns and cities.
    The monkey menace has put the state wildlife authorities in a fix.
"We know the immensity of the problem but are totally helpless,"
Assam's Chief Wildlife Warden Sonadhar Doley told IRNA.
    Doley said monkeys have caused severe loss to agriculture --
feasting on banana plantations, besides fruit orchards, in several
Assam villages.
    The lurking fear of monkeys on the prowl has led to panic in
certain localities in the capital city with people now ensuring all
doors and windows were bolted to prevent the marauding primates from
entering.
    According to estimates there could be up to 10,000 rhesus monkeys
in Guwahati alone with the beasties fast multiplying by the day.
    The rhesus monkeys have since ages been cohabiting among humans in
India with the animal considered sacred by the majority Hindus.
    Experts were now trying for a workable monkey policy to check the
menace but blames humans for forcing the simians to come out of their
habitat.
    Trappers and buyers required young, or sub-adults, breaking up
large colonies into smaller groups that extended their living space
into cities. In 1972, a Wildlife Protection Act made monkey exports
illegal, though some smuggling continues.
AH/AH
End