Increasing menace of monkeys in Tiruvannamalai town, especially around Arunachaleswarar temple, has made the Forest Department set up large-sized cages at six identified locations to trap them.
Officials said complaints of monkeys entering residential localities, grabbing things and damaging property had been reported at various places in the town in recent weeks due to steady flow of pilgrims and tourists.
“People feeding monkeys is main reason for them to venture into the town from their natural habitat. Trapping of monkeys is a continuous process,” G.P. Saravanan, forest range officer (Tiruvannamalai town), told The Hindu.
Every week, on an average, forest officials receive at least two to three calls from residents and traders. Forest officials said that increased flow of visitors and free food distribution joints by voluntary organisations accelerated the flow of monkeys into busy streets from interior forests. At present, the town witnesses around three lakh people during pournami days whereas during weekends more than one lakh people visited the place.
As per the plan, cages have been placed at spots where a large number of monkeys were spotted regularly by residents or forest patrol teams. Some of the spots include Ramana Ashram on Chengam Road, farmers’ market and government school. Cages have also been kept at the four entrances of Arunachaleswarar temple. However, the 14-km-long girivalam path does not have any trap for monkeys as it will be difficult to trap them due to the path’s proximity to adjoining reserve forest.
A 15-member forest team, on rotational basis, has been roped for the purpose. Each trap spot, on an average, has two-three staff. More than 120 monkeys have been trapped in the town for the past few days. They were let free deep inside the forests.
Currently, the town is surrounded by five RFs namely Annamalai, Sorakolathur, Kavuthi, Theppakadu and Kanamalai, covering around 12,000 hectares of forest land. These RFs are home for spotted deer, Indian gaur, wild boar, peacocks and monkeys.
Alongside, the forest officials said that steel fencing of RFs along girivalam path had also been undertaken to prevent wild animals, especially spotted deer, from venturing into the town. Steel fencing, which is around seven ft in height, has been erected in seven km along the path. More than 8,500 deer populations have been recorded by forest patrol teams in these RFs.
