Residents have been left living in fear of marauding monkeys that ransack homes and damage buildings and farmland.
Solomon A lives in Sasthamcotta in the Kunnathoor Tehsil of India’s Kollam district and has told The New Indian Express that he can’t even open his windows or step outside for fear of the monkeys causing chaos.
He said: “As elderly people, we are scared to step outside or even open our windows during the day”.
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Solomon continued: “The monkeys would enter our homes and create chaos. For the past six months, we have kept our homes shut during the day. If they can’t get inside, they destroy our water pipelines, tanks, and land. We’ve endured this for eight months now, but no action has been taken by the authorities.”
The problems started when the monkeys started looking beyond the Shri Dharma Sastha Temple. They have a historical connection with it and are fed during the festivals. But when the monkeys leave they maraud through nearby neighbourhoods.
Now, it is thought that hundreds of monkeys have left the site and are wreaking havoc across the area, leaving local authorities with a problem they have not yet currently solved.
Another resident told the same outlet: “The monkeys showing wild behaviour in the temple would be removed from the temple premises. And these monkeys, accustomed to getting food at the temple, turn violent as they fail to find any. Unfortunately, the officials haven’t taken any measures to control the menace. It is increasing each day.”
Last year, a plan was hatched to put cages in high-impact areas and catch them to then relocate them to Thenmala forest, but it faced pushback from animal advocates, with some saying the only viable solution was to cut off the animal’s food supply.
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