Rampant monkey menace in Anakapalli district

Several mandals in Anakapalli district are living in fear and anxiety due to the rampant monkey menace. Many locals decried that the monkeys travel in groups and even authorities are scared to take action.

“They come in groups and loot our crops and terrorise our children. They snatch mangoes and bananas as we watch helplessly,” said P. Parvathi from Nathavaram in the district.

Speaking to The Hindu, Anakapalli District Forest Officer (territorial) M. Samuel said, “Monkey menace is serious problem here and we are doing our bit to control it. We are also requesting people not to throw leftover food on the streets and in open places, especially fruits.”

Stating that the situation has become even more terrifying due to the mango harvest season, mango trader Parvathi said, “Women, children, farmers, motorists and even officials are in a state of fear. While the monkeys enter our villages throughout the year, the problem has become very serious in the last few months as the mango harvest season is here”.

Blaming the government for no action to this long-standing problem, YB Agraharam sarpanch Kosuru Vijaya said, “Despite several complaints, no action is being taken and the politicians are not even aware of our plight”.

However, some also saw a silver lining in the situation for open defecation. “The problem of open defecation has ended in our area due to the monkeys as people are afraid to ease themselves in the open,” a villager, who asked not to be named, said.

Meanwhile, Aratlakota village sarpanch P. Appalanarasa said that in April 2022, around 5,000 people joined hands and formulated a proper action plan to successfully deal with the monkeys in her village. “I, as village head, conducted a meeting with the officials in the Panchayat office to take a resolution. We decided to send the monkeys to safe places and tenders were called for the work. Three agencies specialising in catching monkeys participated in the tenders. The job was awarded to an agency from Korukonda (Rajahmundry), who offered the lowest price of ₹330 per animal then. The monkeys were released in the hills of Paderu. We were able to control the monkey menace to some extent,” said Appalanarasa, an alumnus of the Botany Department of Andhra University.

The monkey menace is rampant in mandals like Natavaram, Kotavuratla, Makavarapalem, Golugunda and Narsipatnam Rural in the district.