Monkeying around

May 8: Monkeys are not a source of amusement any more, at least not for the residents of Kokrajhar town and its adjoining areas.

Hordes of monkeys have laid siege to Kokrajhar town, giving people in most localities sleepless nights.

A couple of days ago, a monkey attacked a three-year-old child at Mwiderkoro in the heart of Kokrajhar town and critically injured her.

“She was playing on the verandah when a monkey came from nowhere and attacked her,” the girl’s father said.

It was not the first such incident in the town. Last month, a pack of monkeys bit a man in the leg and attacked two other children, leaving them with serious injuries.

Having either experienced or heard about the simian nightmare, residents of Kokrajhar are now keeping their doors and windows closed all the time to ward off these prying animals.

The errant monkeys grab anything they can lay their hands on, from food to items of clothing and utensils. They also pester pets.

S. Basumatary, a schoolteacher, recounted how a gang of monkeys recently wreaked havoc at her residence.

“The monkeys had apparently sneaked into the bedroom through the ventilators and turned everything topsy-turvy. I had a tough time chasing them away and setting right all the damage they had caused,” she said.

“We are constantly worried that the monkeys may attack our children on their way to and from school. We also feel concerned about their safety while they are playing at home or outside. We never know what these animals are going to do next,” said a worried mother of two schoolgoing children.

Forest officials admit having received innumerable complaints regarding the monkey menace, but plead helplessness.

“We have received information that the monkeys have mauled children at certain places. But we cannot go and kill the animals, can we?” a forest official asked.

The forest department had assured residents a few months ago that it would tranquillise the monkeys and release them in forests, but nothing of the sort has been done so far.

With the forest department apparently inert, residents of Kokrajhar have been reduced to praying that their homes are not targeted.

Ironically, conservationist E.P. Gee first sighted the endangered golden langur (Trachypithecus Geei) near the Jamduar range of the Ripu forest reserve in Kokrajhar district. That was in 1953.