DEHRADUN: Nature’s cycle of life and season, fund crunch and low wages have come together to halt the forest department’s monkey sterilisation programme for curbing simian attacks in Uttarakhand. Going by the numbers, the forest department has sterilised only 2.5% of the monkey population in the last two years. In most cases, an alpha male monkey gets lured by food kept as bait and ends up trapping its troop inside the cage. Himachal Pradesh pays about Rs 500-800 for sterilisation of each monkey compared to Rs 350-500 in Uttarakhand. As only 50% of the caught monkeys are found fit for sterilisation, the monkey catchers earn a pittance despite their tiring work.

Source: Hindustan Times August 25, 2017 15:00 UTC