Mischief makers

Who is responsible for the monkey menace?

by Nilma Dole

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Just like the monkeys in the folk tale about the hat seller we listened to as children, today’s monkeys are really more intelligent than we think they are.

“Doing what we are supposed to do - behave like monkeys”

“Pack us up and send us away?”

“I’m for a peaceful settlement”

Pix by Allison Barrett, Nicolai Kragh-Hansen and Christopher Bulle

Ask Mrs. S.F. Cuncheer who has a time with the monkeys who nearly wreck her place to pieces. Living in Hindagala, a few kilometres from the Peradeniya University, the ‘monkey menace’ has been present ever since she came here to reside about 20 years ago.

“They destroy the antennae and I can’t watch television properly, they pull off the clothes from the line and make a lot of noise”, she complains.

The ‘monkey menace’ had also been a problem in the Kandy town near the market for many ‘vadai’ sellers and pavement hawkers who had been complaining that monkeys have been attacking them and stealing their wares. Many students of the Mahamaya Girl’s College also reported of incidents where monkeys would come upto them, pull their hair and steal their lunch.

The Principal of the Mahamaya Girl’s College Mrs. I. Witaranachchi stated “The monkeys are a nuisance and we can’t have outdoor classes in peace”. She explained that even though the garbage is collected and the students keep the school tidy, the monkeys are used to getting food from the students and always cause trouble if their needs are not met.

The veterinary surgeon Dr. Ashok Dangolla took to the streets some time back to catch all the monkeys in Kandy town. He said “I had to take a gun and tranquillise them because they were behaving badly”. Dr. Dangolla highlighted “We transferred them all to the Akarapanseya island on the Randenigala reservoir and sterilised them because we don’t want anymore trouble makers.”

Maheshika Rupasinghe who has a PhD from the Postgraduate Institute of Science on the subject says people have to change their habits and think of long-term solutions instead of complaining about the monkey menace. “The solution is to dispose garbage properly since monkeys now can find food readily available this way rather than venturing into the forest”.

The Commissioner of the Kandy Municipal Council Wimalasiri highlighted “We have given a contract to a private company to collect and dispose the garbage around the Kandy town the proper way.”

However, he pointed out that it was because of the people’s bad habits they still disposed garbage by dumping it into the lake even though the garbage is collected everyday within the Kandy city limits.

“The hotels are not to be blamed because we collect their garbage and even the tourists are very concerned about the environment so they don’t dump garbage either”.

According to Jessica Leas, an expert on monkeys and apes who is working in Sri Lanka “Monkeys are more intelligent now because when we conducted a research on them, we discovered that they have brand preferences for certain drinks and like humans, they can get addicted to caffeine too” .

Proving how intelligent they are, she says once when they sterilised a female gorilla when she was in stitches, they had to paint her nails to divert her concentration to somewhere else and away from the stitches on her tummy. This shows how intelligent monkeys are and when they find places where there is food, they know how best to obtain it.

The monkey problem does need a solution but since our country is home to an abundance of animals, we have to learn to share our land with them.