Himachal Pradesh’s experimentation to check monkey menace is not over yet. After people did not take to guns to kill monkeys even after they were declared vermin in Shimla and other parts of the state last year, the government on Monday said that it would now have an eco-task force for scientific culling of monkeys.

A ‘Rescue Centre for Life Care’ Wild Animal and Monkey Menace is also being set up near Shimla having capacity to house around 1,000 rogue and sterilised monkeys.

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A high powered committee for Wild Animal and Monkey Menace in its meeting chaired by chief minister, Virbhadra Singh observed that the religious sentiments have prevented the people to kill monkeys declared as ‘vermin’. The work would now be assigned to eco task force with the help of forest department.

CM said that since they have been causing much damage to crops and fruits, besides attacking women and children in particular, the government has decided to open ‘Rescue Centre for Life Care’ near Shimla.

Singh said different types of task forces should be constituted for dealing with monkeys on national highways, villages and other cities as well, besides oral contraceptives should also be tried as a measure to control reproduction in female monkeys.

MLA from Dalhousie, Asha Kumari suggested legal steps to be taken to stop feeding monkeys on National Highways to prevent mishaps.

Additional Chief Secretary Tarun Kapoor said that to identify the sterilized monkeys, permanent tattooing was being done in middle of the forehead. He said mobile monkey sterilisation units (Van) would also be quite useful when made operational.

Kapoor said that a list of 53 tehsils and sub-tehsils have been sent to Ministry of Environment (MoEF), Government of India, where monkeys could be declared as vermin to provide much needed relief to the farmers and horticulturists.

He said that soon a survey would be conducted jointly with Wild Life Institute of India, (WII) Dehradun to declare Wild Boar, Sambar and Nilgai vermin as well. As of now, a decision was taken for culling the monkeys in as many as 38 tehsils and sub tehsils in which monkeys have been declared vermin by MoEF.

Principal Chief Conservator Forest, Wild Life S K Sharma revealed that as many as 1,25, 266 monkeys have been sterilised till March this year out of total estimated population of 2,07,614 as per survey conducted in 2015. Chief Secretary, VC Pharka, senior scientists from Coimbatore and state forest corporation vice chairman, Kewal Singh Pathania were also present among others.