The monkey menace has kept foresters on toes over the last two decades in Himachal Pradesh. It may, however, be the time for the primates to be on the run, with the forest department changing its strategy to trap them in groups to scientifically scale up sterilisation drive.

Official sources said instead of cages used to catch one monkey at a time presently, the forest department has roped in professional monkey catchers from Uttar Pradesh (UP), who trap 70-80 per cent monkeys from one troupe with the help of net in one go.

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Three such teams from UP will start their work on a trial basis in Shimla first, where the conflict is more. It will be replicated in other plain areas of the state, based on success.

“Catching monkeys in numbers from one group at a time and sterilising them yields better results to control their numbers in the long run,” Dr Sandeep Rattan, a veterinarian and Assistant Director with the wildlife wing of the forest department in HP told The Statesman.

As many as 1.4 lakh monkeys have been sterilised in Himachal since 2007. The population of monkeys in Himachal has shown a marginal drop since then- from 3.17 lakh in 2003-04 to 2.26 lakh in 2013 and 2.07 lakh in 2015. Another monkey census is due in HP later this year.

The foresters share that although the methodology of catching one monkey from a group at a time in cage for sterilisation has shown results to contain numbers, it was more of a hit and trial strategy. “If we sterilise more monkeys, that too female, from a particular troupe simultaneously, it is a better scientific methodology,” they said.

Official sources said even otherwise, when the monkeys were being caught individually, it left other animals in the same troupe aggressive. More so the monkeys of late had sensed that the cages are kept to trap them, so they would not come even if offered food.

The man-animal conflict, particularly with monkeys, is on the rise in HP over last two decades. The primates not only top the list of nine wildlife species declared as crop damaging animals in HP, but have been attacking people, mostly children and women.

The problem has been more in Shimla, with monkeys seen snatching eatables from people in prime areas like The Mall, with a noticeable incidence of monkey bite.

In HP, the issue of monkey menace has acquired serious proportions, so much so the farmers across the state have been forced to abandon chunks of agriculture land, fearing damage by monkeys.

Making it to poll manifesto of political parties, however, in every election, the monkey menace remains a problem, with successive government’s government little success in finding solutions, even by changing strategies.