Hyderabad: In a bid to guard crops from monkeys in Morampalli Banjar village of Bhadradri Kothagudem district, gram panchayat secretary, M Bhavani, came up with a novel idea.
Instead of deploying scarecrows, which have proved ineffective, Bhavani along with her staff put on gorilla costumes and went to fields to chase monkeys away.
Surprisingly, the plan proved successful, as the people wore gorilla costumes, which prompted the monkeys to run back into the forest.
The secretary said that she had been receiving numerous complaints from villagers about the monkey menace, causing her to give this issue the utmost importance.
“Initially, I considered hiring monkey catchers, but upon realizing that it did not work as expected in other places, I decided to get gorilla costumes after watching a video on YouTube,” she said.
The staff would dress like gorillas and patrol the village from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and then from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. every day.
After the encroachment of the wildlife areas caused the species to venture out of the forests in large numbers, the villagers and farmers have been facing trouble caused by monkey attacks for the past few years.
The farmers, who depend on cultivating cotton, paddy, and vegetables, found themselves losing everything. Despite multiple attempts to chase away monkeys, their efforts did not prove any success.
While speaking to a local daily, a resident lamented how they were troubled by the monkeys. “Monkeys are entering our homes and making off with food items, including essentials,” he said.
Following the gorilla costume trick, a farmer expressed relief, saying, “After the implementation of the new idea by the gram panchayat secretary, the monkey menace has reduced by half as a majority of the monkeys have left the village.” Another farmer confirmed that the trick had led to a reduction of monkeys in the village.
