Monkey Madness Stalks Delhi

Each day at the ol' Delib, we wait eagerly for the delivery of the daily English newspapers-- The Gulf Times, The Peninsula, the Qatar Tribune, and the International Herald Tribune. We particularly enjoy the Gulf Times and The Peninsula, as both have an uncanny knack for publishing hysterically funny stories. Naturally, they're not meaning to be funny, which makes them even funnier. Kind of like Woody Allen.

Anyway, here's the latest, from yesterday's Peninsula. The best part of the story is the hiring monkeys bit. We were wondering how the monkeys were paid, and if they receive paid health and holiday as well.

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Monkey madness stalks Delhi Thursday, November 15, 2007-->Web posted at: 11/14/2007 6:39:7Source ::: Reuters
Men rest in a park as a group of monkeys pass by, in New Delhi. (AFP)
New Delhi • First it was the death of Delhi’s deputy mayor, who fell after a fight with monkeys on the balcony of his home last month. Then, 25 residents were bitten, scratched and mauled by a lone monkey which went on the rampage in the capital last weekend. The monkey reportedly tried to snatch several infants before being beaten back by residents armed with sticks and metal bars.
Authorities are struggling to contain primates that are stubbornly resisting efforts to portray New Delhi as a modern, clean and globalised capital. The city of 14 million people is growing quickly and experts say monkeys are increasingly being forced out of forests to lead urban lives, putting them on a collision course with humans.
It is a pattern seen across India as the economy booms. Elephants, leopards and tigers are also coming face to face with man as cities sprawl into their former habitats. Monkeys are a regular sight in New Delhi. They can be seen in groups climbing outside government ministries. Troupes lounge on pavements, oblivious to the chaotic traffic around them.
But culling monkeys has never been an option as many Hindus worship Hanuman, seen as a symbol of strength, perseverance and devotion. And when Delhi tried to shift them out of the city, neighbouring states complained.
Faced with what many saw as a monkey plague on homes, offices and ministries, this year city authorities started to capture and send them to a sanctuary on Delhi’s outskirts. Delhi government officials say they have caught and relocated around 1,900 monkeys. While there is no census of monkey numbers, officials say thousands still live on the city’s streets.
Experts say there is a growing pattern of lone attacks that may highlight the random way authorities are trying to reduce the monkey population in the city.

!!!Last year, the Delhi Metro train service hired a larger langur monkey to frighten off smaller creatures after a monkey boarded a train and scared passengers by scowling at them for three stops. Another langur is on the government payroll to scare off monkeys from Delhi’s top federal government offices.!!!

This year, a monkey sneaked into New Delhi’s international airport, forcing the partial closure of the lounge for more than an hour. The Delhi residents terrorised at the weekend said the monkey attack was a terrifying experience. “I thought it was a man at first,” Manohar, one of the residents, said. “It got hold of my son’s leg and was carrying him away but I managed to snatch him back.”