Villagers in Anamalai Tiger Reserve turn to the toys in an attempt to safeguard their shops from rampaging groupsLarge, stuffed tigers welcome visitors to shops in remote villages of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR). He bought a stuffed tiger from Salem after hearing that shopkeepers in other villages of ATR, like Sarkarpathy and Kadambarai, had been placing replicas of the big cats to scare monkeys. “Sometimes, I play clips of tigers roaring on my mobile phone and walk around the shop with the stuffed animal,” he said. Besides stealing food, the monkeys cause trouble in the Electricity Department quarters at Navamalai, which houses 100 employees. Employees are forced to wash their clothes again because of dirt or fear of parasites, Mr. Palanisamy said.

Source: The Hindu November 15, 2020 21:58 UTC