Residents angry over authority not take action against monkeys mences

 Agra angry over the apparent lack of action by authorities to reduce the threat of monkeys in Agra Some savvy residents from Runkata which was the site of the killing of an infant this week, have launched a crowdfunding campaign and employed monkey catcher. A majority of the 1,700 families from the Runkata Gram Panchayat have contributed money, generating the sum of Rs.50,000 within four days. The funds were used to pay for a team of three monkey catcher who have captured 122 primates and released them into the forest in close proximity to Churmura about 25km from city limits.

The resident Bablu Kumar who participated participant in the crowdfunding campaign said to TOI, "Residents were willing to pay since monkeys create chaos for all. We used the funds to pay for three men of Kosi Kalan, Mathura. They charge 200 rupees per capture. So far, they've succeeded in capturing 122 animals, and released them back into the forest. The animals were not injured when they were captured."

The monkey catcher in delhi use wooden cages that contain items such as grain and bananas to lure the monkeys.

"A Banana is stored close to the cage and grain is scattered throughout the. Once the monkey has entered the cage it takes a while to take the grain. Then, there is a monkey catcher near me is spotted within the area, then sprints to close the cage's doors," said a local resident who was able to witness the monkeys being rescued.

Residents claimed that they were forced to make things their own since they believed that the government was "slow to take action". "The administrative department of the district is working on getting permission from the forest conservator (wildlife) to capture monkeys. We needed to take action," said a resident under the request for anonymity.

In Runkata the city of Runkata, a monkey captured a newborn baby boy of 12 days as his mother was nursing the baby in their home in the Kachhara Thok Colony last week. The animal was able to maul the infant to death before it left it on the patio of a neighbor's home.

The forest department's district officer (Agra), Manish saheb said that catching monkeys was in contravention of the Wildlife Act and he would examine the matter.

Mittal stated she was aware that Agra Development Authority (ADA) has made an idea for sterilization of monkeys. The department is studying the matter.