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Monkey misery for Kenyan women villagers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6959209.stm

Friday, 24 August 2007

A troop of vervet monkeys is giving Kenyan villagers long days and sleepless
nights, destroying crops and causing a food crisis.

Earlier this month, local MP Paul Muite urged the Kenyan Wildlife Service to
help contain their aggressive behaviour.

But Mr Muite caused laughter when he told parliament that the monkeys had
taken to harassing and mocking women in a village.

But this is exactly what the women in the village of Nachu, just south-west
of Kikuyu, are complaining about.

Sexual harassment

They estimate there are close to 300 monkeys invading the farms at dawn.
They eat the village's maize, potatoes, beans and other crops.

And because women are primarily responsible for the farms, they have borne
the brunt of the problem, as they try to guard their crops.

They say the monkeys are more afraid of young men than women and children,
and the bolder ones throw stones and chase the women from their farms.

Nachu's women have tried wearing their husbands' clothes in an attempt to
trick the monkeys into thinking they are men - but this has failed, they
say.

"When we come to chase the monkeys away, we are dressed in trousers and
hats, so that we look like men," resident Lucy Njeri told the BBC News
website

"But the monkeys can tell the difference and they don't run away from us and
point at our breasts. They just ignore us and continue to steal the crops."

In addition to stealing their crops, the monkeys also make sexually explicit
gestures at the women, they claim.

"The monkeys grab their breasts, and gesture at us while pointing at their
private parts. We are afraid that they will sexually harass us," said Mrs
Njeri.

The Kenyan Wildlife Service told the BBC that it was not unusual for monkeys
to harass women and be less afraid of them than men, but they had not heard
of monkeys in Kenya making sexually explicit gestures as a form of
communication to humans.

The predominantly farming community is now having to receive famine relief
food.

The residents report that the monkeys have killed livestock and guard dogs,
which has also left the villagers living in fear, especially for the safety
of their babies and children.

All the villagers' attempts to control the monkeys have failed - the monkeys
evade traps, have lookouts to warn the others of impending attacks and snub
poisoned food put out by the residents.

"The troop has scouts which keep a lookout from a vantage point, and when
they see us coming, they give warning signals to the ones in the farms to
get away," said another area resident, Jacinta Wandaga.

'Monkey squad'

The town has been warned by the Kenya Wildlife Service not to harm or kill
any of the monkeys, as it is a criminal offence.

Running out of options, residents are harvesting their crops early in an
attempt to salvage what they can of this year's crop.

Unfortunately, this only invites the monkeys to break into their homes and
steal the harvested crops out of their granaries.

Even the formation of a "monkey squad" to keep track of the monkeys'
movements and keep them out has failed.

The area is simply too large for the few volunteers to cover, they say.

Some residents have lost hope and abandoned their homes and farms, but those
who have stayed behind, like 80-year-old James Ndungu, are making a
desperate plea for assistance.

"For God's sake, the government should take pity on us and move these
monkeys away because we do not want to abandon our farms," he said.

"I beg you, please come and take these animals away from here so that we can
farm in peace."