The Hindu : New Delhi News : Outrage over poisoning of monkeys

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 01, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Outrage over poisoning of monkeys

By Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI AUG. 31. Expressing shock at the mass killing of 60 monkeys in the Basana-Kalanaur area of Rohtak district on Sunday afternoon, environmentalists have written to the President, the Prime Minister, the Union Environment and Forests Minister, the Chief Ministers of Delhi and Haryana and various non-government organisations working to protect wildlife to ensure that "a crime like this is never repeated anywhere in the country''.

The ghastly poisoning and killing of monkeys came to light when the villagers of Basana spotted four young men in a jeep dumping blood stained gunny bags in the open fields. When they tried to stop them, the young men ran away dumping the bags. While 59 were already dead, the villagers managed to save one monkey.

According to environmentalists working in the area, the monkeys were probably caught, poisoned and killed at one place, and later brought here for dumping.

"The young men obviously planned to escape after dumping the bodies in the fields, but unfortunately the villagers saw them,'' said environmentalist Amita Singh.

This is not the first time that mass murder of wild animals has been reported. Previously Haryana witnessed mass murder of peacocks which the authorities claimed was due to excessive use of pesticides, shifting the blame squarely on the farmers of the area.

The letter written by environmentalists states "that the incident has brought to light the cruel and barbaric slaughtering and destruction of wildlife going on unabated in Haryana. Everyday we are encountering heart-rending news about the killing of nilgais and peacocks and mass trapping of snakes. The process does not seem to stop as there is no governance at the grassroots and no commitment of the police force to participate in preventing these heinous crimes.''

Said environmentalist Amita Singh: "This is not the first such incident. We have seen mass killing of peacocks and nilgais, but this is by far the most brutal killing that has come to light. We are often forced to think that this could be the handiwork of the land mafia.''

On Sunday, the villagers after spotting the dead monkeys called up Wildlife SOS Delhi which then asked the residents to contact the local wildlife officers. Speaking about the incident, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Haryana, S.K. Dhar, said: "We are aware of the mass killing that happened on Sunday and the matter is under investigation.

The two important aspects that has to be focused upon are the circumstances under which the monkeys were killed and identification of the people responsible for the act.''

Environmentalists have pointed out that this mass killing was taking place despite stringent laws in the Constitution as well as the Wildlife Protection Act of India. "We are requesting that stern action be taken against the apathetic local police and other wildlife agencies for failing to take any action against the culprits,'' said Amita Singh.

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