The Rashtrapati Bhavan had an unusual visitor on Friday when an injured rhesus macaque suffering from shoulder injuries decided to take refuge inside the President’s house.
The injured animal was spotted in the meeting room of the President’s house after which the matter was reported to the Wildlife SOS team.
A two-member rescue team was dispatched by the organisation.
The team searched the premises and found the macaque resting underneath some chairs.
“Since the animal was already injured, the team took great care in handling the rescue operation. On close examination, the macaque was found to be suffering from injuries on the shoulder which had become maggot-infested,” said a release issued by group.
Wasim Akram, manager Wildlife SOS special project said, “Our team has to be careful while rescuing injured animals so as to avoid causing further stress. The macaque is currently undergoing treatment and will be released back into its natural habitat when deemed fit.”
Human-animal conflict
Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder and CEO of Wildlife SOS said, “This injured animal is likely to be a victim of human-animal conflict. I thank the staff of the President’s house for alerting Wildlife SOS. Human-primate conflict, often termed as monkey menace is on the rise, sadly because of the fragmentation and disappearance of the original habitat that these animals depended on.”
Geeta Seshamani, co-founder of Wildlife SOS said, “Wildlife SOS has developed a scientific and humane mechanism to help mitigate human-monkey conflict”.
