Monkey business plagues New Delhi
New Delhi is being overrun by thousands of monkeys that steal food, bite people and even drink alcoholic beverages left on outdoor tables.
Photograph by: Manpreet Romana, AFP, Getty Images, The Times
India's capital city has sent out an emergency plea for help after coming under siege from up to 10,000 stray monkeys attacking residents and stealing food.
The city's chief wildlife warden, Deepak Shukla, said the influx had been made worse by people feeding the animals.
Monkeys are said to be the living representatives of the Hindu god Hanuman, and tradition calls for them to be fed on the auspicious days of Tuesday and Saturday.
Anecdotes of monkey business are rife. Ben Sheppard, a British journalist, was snoozing on his sofa wearing a sleep mask when he awoke to hear scratching on his table. He lifted the mask to see a large monkey standing on its hind legs and fiddling with a chocolate wrapper.
"I threw a pillow at it and started bellowing, but it looked at me dismissively and walked slowly to the door," he said.
Members of a Bollywood film crew complained last week of being bitten by monkeys as they were filming.
Delhi's citizens have been terrorized by monkeys for decades but, ex-acerbated by a shortage of catchers, the problem appears to be getting worse. Monkeys have stormed ministries, attacked civil servants, stolen confidential files and bitten through Internet cables.
More than 90 per cent of them carry tuberculosis. On the streets they snatch food, bite passersby and drink alcohol.
High-frequency sound has been transmitted via loudspeakers to disperse them and some 14,000 have been caught since 2007.
The Times, London
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