Monkey menace has been one of the major conflicts in many villages in India. They snatch your food, destroy crops, make walking or driving difficult on the roads and frighten you to the core if not anything else. Especially for those living in hilly areas, the village will collectively pay you a USD 100 if you promise to take them away by becoming the Pied Piper of Hamelin. In the recent times, troops of monkeys have started transferring to cities too, much to the dismay of people.

The situation seems to be worse in Western India with frequent attacks on motorists and pedestrians. The animal has created such fear among people that they are even frightened to leave their homes. Recent CCTV footages from Supa Village, near Navsari, in Gujarat show monkeys attacking people walking on the road by pouncing on them. Another video footage shows a primate jumping on an elderly woman crossing a street bringing her to the road. She appears to have fallen unconscious to the floor.

Here is the video:

To control the situation, last year, scientists with the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) had suggested offering monkeys a family planning vaccine called porcine zona pellucida. The contraceptive programme had shown potency among monkeys in America. Trails were conducted in Uttarakhand and results were satisfactory but a single shot costs Rs 6,000 and is currently available only in the US, hence we believe it is not widely used.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 17, 2018 09:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).