Forest Department traps over 1,900 monkeys from residential localities

The capture of 42 monkeys by the Forest Department on Thursday at Thathamangalam village was one more in the long list of similar operations carried out by the field-level officials at various locations in Tiruchi Forest Range limits.

The capture of 42 monkeys by the Forest Department on Thursday at Thathamangalam village was one more in the long list of similar operations carried out by the field-level officials at various locations in Tiruchi Forest Range limits. 

Acting on public complaints that monkeys had entered residential localities and caused disturbance, a Forest Department team deployed a cage to trap them at Thathamangalam.

The cage was shifted to different spots at the village and the officials had to wait for four to five days before trapping a troop of monkeys. Of the 42 monkeys that got trapped in the cage, 10 were male, 15 female, and 17 young ones.  Acting on another complaint, the department has set out on another mission by deploying a cage at Pulivalam on Friday to trap the monkeys in that village.

In the last two-and-a-half years, the department has captured 1,953 monkeys from various villages falling under the jurisdiction of the Tiruchi Forest Range alone. The number of monkeys trapped in the year 2022 were 723 which rose to 740 in 2023. So far this year, 490 monkeys have been trapped in Tiruchi Forest Range.

The Tiruchi Forest Division has four ranges: Tiruchi, Manapparai, Thuvarankurichi, and Thuraiyur. The jurisdiction of the Tiruchi Forest Range encompasses Tiruchi East, Tiruchi West, Tiruverumbur, Lalgudi, Musiri, Thottiyam, Srirangam, Manachanallur and a part of Thuraiyur taluks.

A field-level department official said calls from the general public complaining of monkey menace were frequent. “Public complain that monkeys enter residential localities and houses and cause disturbance prompting us to launch an operation to trap them. The operation might take a few days after deploying the cage as the monkeys do not easily get trapped,” the official said. 

Usually, the trapped monkeys are released in the hilly and green Pachamalai, near Thuraiyur, which serves as a perfect habitat for them, the official said. Complaints of monkeys entering residential localities in search of food and water has become frequent in recent years. A major reason for this is that several trees, including those bearing fruit, had been axed for road-widening work in the district.