Opinion
Monkey business
Troops of monkeys informally translocated from Swayambhu are causing widespread harm to farms in OkharpauwaHemraj Bhattarai
Every other day, there are media reports on human-animal conflicts. Monkeys, leopards, tigers and elephants are some animals that frequently come in contact with human settlements and destroy human properties and lives. However, there has been very little research concerning monkeys, not only in Nepal but also in the world. There are around 234 species of monkeys worldwide, all listed as Least Concerned by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Of them, three major species are found in Nepal, as specified by the primatologist Dr Mukesh K Chalise. Out of these three, around 1,000 Rhesus monkeys (Macacamulatta) are found in Kathmandu Valley. A recent study conducted in collaboration with the Jane Goodall Institute Nepal in Okharpauwa VDC of Nuwakot district brought to the fore the activities of three troops of around 300 monkeys that are threatening farmers' livelihood by causing destruction to their farm almost every day.
Destructive primates
The people of Okharpauwa are already facing problems of solid waste dumping from Kathmandu. Making things worse are the monkeys that have been troubling villagers for the last ten years. Their problem, however, remains unheard. The troubles reportedly began when a truck driver unscientifically translocated monkeys from Swayambhu in Kathmandu to Okharpauwa.
Most farmers living in Okharpauwa practice subsistence farming and have been severely affected by crop damage (75.38 percent), followed by house raids and physical attacks. In addition to crop damage, the monkeys have also negatively affected the health, education and culture of the place. The study showed that an average family with 10-15 acres of land suffers a loss of around Rs 74,000 each year, excluding the labour cost, which is around Rs 300-500 per day.
As fodder is in short supply in the forest, high quality and easily digestible human food is a good alternative form of nutrition for primates, which is a main reason for the high intensity of crop raids. Cultivation near scattered forest areas, a lack of food in the forest and easy availability of deciduous plants like maize and strawberry, in addition to other fruits and vegetables, attract monkeys to the farmland. Due to the easy availability of food on the farmlands, the monkeys have stopped foraging in the landfill sites.
Prospective solutions
The Okharpauwa locals use traditional methods like chasing the monkeys using catapults, stones, sticks and guarding the fields. These methods seem to be neither effective nor sustainable. Manoj Gautam, chief executive officer of the Jane Goodall Institute Nepal, suggests that changing the crop patterns could help reduce the impact to a certain extent. But it must be ensured that the crops which monkeys do not like get a proper market value. Molasses plantation offers a good solution to this problem. If a monkey comes in contact with this plant, its fur gets stuck on the plant and it will not visit the same place again. Molasses can also be used as fodder for domesticated animals and is environment friendly.
Gautam also pointed to sterilisation as another option to control the primate population and reduce harm. Almost 80 percent of females and aggressive males can be sterilised by trapping them in large cages, that monkeys can be lured to by regular feeding. All said and done, the government authorities remain unwilling to give the permission for such measures. They claim that no complaints have been heard from locals regarding the monkeys. But Dr Chalise, from the zoological department at Tribhuvan University, strongly argues that such a translocation of wild species should be immediately stopped as such practices have adverse effects on both humans and animals.
Policy problems
The National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973 governs wildlife in Nepal. The Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation has further developed Wildlife Damage Relief Guidelines 2009 with an objective to reduce conflict between local communities and conservation agencies. The Guidelines also has provisions to compensate for the loss of human life, livestock and crops. It provides Rs 10,000 for normal harm, Rs 50,000 for deadly harm and in case of death, Rs 300,000 for treatment and compensation. This compensation, however, is applicable for damage caused by wild elephants, tigers and leopards, not monkeys. Though monkeys do not usually take lives, the destruction they cause is often much greater.
The people living in the buffer zones get certain compensation from the authorities of protected areas when they are harmed. Other people, living outside the buffer zone, can also claim compensation from the Department of Forests, depending upon the type of harm and the type of wild species that caused it. But there is a severe lack of policies to compensate people who are living just outside the buffer zone and are harmed by monkeys.
This is the case of Okharpauwa. None of the farmers have received any compensation till date. Out of 1,510 households, almost all of them have been directly or indirectly affected by the monkey rampage. Around 60 percent of households are directly affected. The problem of Okharpauwa is representative of hundreds of places in Nepal where monkeys trouble locals. Hectares of land lay bare and even cultivated lands yield little due to the destruction caused by these primates. We can only imagine the extent of loss in the country like Nepal where around 80 percent of the population still depends on subsistence farming. Therefore, it is imperative that the government take immediate action, starting with amendments to existing laws.
Bhattarai is a student of Environmental Science and Management at School of Environmental Science and Management, Pokhara University