According to Indian media reports recently, a group of monkeys in the Bagpat area of Uttar Pradesh, India, dragged a two-month-old baby away without warning and threw it in a water tank, resulting in the baby's death.
It is reported that the baby was sleeping with the grandmother at the time when a group of monkeys rushed in through the open door and dragged the baby away. A few hours later, local police found a floating baby in a water tank.
Local police are alerting Indian forest officials to take "necessary action" and say the monkeys' actions have posed a threat to local society.
India reports more than 1,000 cases of monkey violence and injuries every year
Behind this shocking event is an increasingly frequent incident of monkey attacks on humans. According to statistics, india reports more than 1,000 monkey attacks on humans every day, including injuries to deaths.
In December 2021, in the Beid region of Maharashtra, India, a group of monkeys launched a "revenge operation" after several dogs bit and killed a small monkey, killing at least 250 puppies in the area. It is reported that the monkey group killing dogs is very organized and disciplined, not through tearing and other ways, but as soon as they see a dog nearby, they directly take it to the roof or tree, and then throw it down and fall to their deaths.
↑ The monkey takes the dog to the roof and throws it down and falls to his death.
Local villagers said the monkeys had nearly killed the village dogs, leaving them feeling terrified. Subsequently, the local forestry department captured two of the monkeys involved in the massacre, but instead of punishing them, they were taken to the forest for release.
In October 2021, a group of monkeys in India threw bricks down from the roof of a building and attacked pedestrians passing by. A 30-year-old man was hit by a brick and died on the spot.
In February 2021, in the Indian city of Tanjawil, a group of monkeys lifted the tiles of a family's roof, snatched the family's eight-day-old twin babies and killed one of them. It is reported that when the mother of the twins heard the cries of the babies outside the house, she saw that both children had been snatched away by monkeys. Subsequently, with the help of neighbors, they rescued one of the children, while the body of the other was found on the river.
In November 2019, a four-month-old boy was stoned to death by a local monkey in Muzafar Nagar, India. Local police said the monkey was on the balcony of the boy's house and fumbled and hit the boy with a stone, causing him to die of serious injuries. It is reported that the boy's parents were at the boy's side at the time.
↑ A monkey is trying to kill a puppy during Operation Revenge.
In November 2018, in the northern Indian city of Agra, a monkey snatched and bit a boy who was only 12 days old from his mother. It is reported that the mother was feeding the child at the time, and the monkey broke into the room, directly grabbed the child, and frantically tore the baby's head. Chased by everyone, the monkey bit the child until it was seriously injured and threw it on the roof of a neighbor's house, and the child later died of his injuries in the hospital. Locals say monkey attacks in the area are becoming more frequent.
Experts said: Monkeys are overaccustomed to human society and produce strong aggressive behavior
In response, Jessica M. Dr. Mayhew expressed shock and heartache. She believes that although injuries to Indian monkey colonies are often reported, this should never be normal behavior. "To know why the monkeys dragged the baby away, you need to know what interaction the baby's family had with the monkeys," she said. The interaction between humans and wildlife can sometimes lead to tragedy. ”
Rutgers University in New Jersey primatologist Erin M. Professor Erin R. Vogel believes that the frequent attacks on humans by local monkeys may be too accustomed to human society and have lost their sense of fear of humans. "When they get too used to human society, they develop aggressive behavior," she said. Primates are curious and need to demonstrate their ethnic superiority through a number of behaviors. ”
↑ Infographic. On October 11, 2020, in Ahmedabad, India, a monkey that attacked humans lost consciousness and was put in a cage.
Professor Vogel's analysis believes that primates have not yet found the predatory behavior of humans, so they may not be deliberately trying to cause harm to humans, but only after overaccustomed to human society, they have produced aggressive behavior.
Iqbal Malik, a primatologist and environmental activist in New Delhi, believes that the attacks on human society by Indian monkey colonies may be caused by habitat destruction. "Large-scale deforestation by locals has destroyed the habitat of the monkey herd, and the monkeys have no food and no habitat, so they have to migrate to human-populated areas such as rural areas or even cities," she said. ”
The Indian government neutered monkeys, but attacks are still frequent
In response to the increasing number of monkey attacks, the Indian government has adopted sterilization measures to curb the number of monkeys. In 2006, the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh became the first region in the country to sterilize monkeys, and as of 2019, there were 8 monkey sterilization centers in the state. Monkeys in the area will be neutered after being caught, the male monkeys will have their vas deferens removed, and the female monkeys will have their fallopian tubes cut off.
However, although the number of monkeys has decreased, the number of violent attacks by monkeys does not seem to have decreased significantly. Monkeys in the region have dropped from 3.2 million in 2004 to 2.1 million in 2015, but the number of local monkey attacks on humans has not declined.
↑ Infographic. Experts say the monkey herd developed aggressive behavior after being overaccustomed to human society.
Satish S. Thompson, a scientist at the National Institute of Immunology in New Delhi who specializes in germ cell biology, said that he would not be able to do so. Professor Satish K. Gupta worries that neutering monkeys could backfire. He believes that the sterilization itself is harmless to the monkey population, but the relevant departments have been sloppy in trapping and post-operative treatment of the monkey group. "Monkey groups are an extremely united tribal species, and when individual monkeys are trapped, they cut off contact with the tribe," he said. When they are put back in, they become more irritable and aggressive. ”
Following Himachal Pradesh, the Agra Regional Government of Uttar Pradesh, in partnership with a local non-profit organization, launched a similar neutering project for monkey populations in Uttar Pradesh, India, throughout 2016, but by 2018, only 500 monkeys had been captured. As in Himachal Pradesh, Javed Akhtar, the Uttar Pradesh government's chief forest conservator, said the number of violent attacks on humans by monkey herds had not declined.
At present, the Indian government is considering the use of another immune sterilization technique, vaccination, that is, injecting vaccines to make monkeys produce a temporary immune response to proteins or hormones that are essential for reproduction, so that monkeys cannot have children. In addition to this, they also consider turning the neuter vaccine into an edible pill and placing it inside the monkey bait.
However, Professor Malik believes that in cases where the sterilization strategy is not effective, the most useful method may be to encourage people to avoid feeding stray monkeys or leaving leftovers outside. The New Delhi Forest Department has also offered other advice, such as making eye contact with people when there are monkeys, or making loud noises to scare away stray monkeys.
Red Star News reporter Wang Yalin intern reporter Li Jinrui
Edited by Zhang Xun
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