Monkey catchers have been hired to rid the town of the menace posed by the animal in several areas over the last few years.
People of Karimnagar town heaved a sigh of relief with the Municipal Corporation of Karimnagar (MCK) roping in the services of monkey catchers in the last few days.
Following widespread destruction of forest and rampant quarrying in the neighbouring mandals, hordes of monkeys have entered the town in search of food and water. The simians have not only damaged property but also attacked residents.
Reacting to the pressure from the residents and municipal Corporators, the MCK deployed monkey-catchers from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and started relocating the simians.
Trapping animals
A monkey catcher, Yesupadam of Nellore district, explained that they trap the monkeys by luring them with food like bananas and nuts in a specially designed truck. Once more than one monkey enters the truck to eat the food, the cage door is closed trapping the animals inside.
“We later transport them and leave them in the forest of Mahadevpur region in Jayashankar-Bhupalapalli district,” he said. Since the last one week, they have trapped over 500 monkeys from various residential areas in the town, he said, adding that the MCK pays them ₹500 per monkey.
Time-consuming
He said there were several hundreds of monkeys in Karimnagar town and it would take some time for him to catch them all.
The city is making plans to be included in the list of Smart Cities, and it was essential that they get rid of the simians, Mayor S. Ravinder Singh said. “We will continue trapping monkeys till the last monkey is transported and left in the jungle of Mahadevpur,” he said.
