KHOTANG, Feb 25: As a part of a campaign to protect crops, Indian hunters deployed by the local government have managed to catch 56 monkeys in Khotang in just four days.
Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality-5 started this campaign on February 19. Manoj Rai, treasurer of the committee responsible for managing the monkeys, informed Republica that the Indian hunters have set up traps in various parts of the forest to catch the monkeys. Preparations are underway to take these monkeys to a national park.
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The local unit was compelled to launch this campaign after monkeys started terrorizing the locals by damaging their crops and stored food. According to treasurer Rai, professional hunters were hired from Uttar Pradesh of India to tackle the monkey menace.
Monkey menace had been a problem for the people living in 15 wards of the municipality. Reportedly, the municipality had to spend Rs 1 million to pay the hunters and get rid of this problem. Durga Prasad Ghimire, Chairperson of the committee stated that the local unit is planning to catch at least 250 monkeys in the next four months.
He further informed that this campaign will be launched in all ten local units of the district in the future. In a gathering organized on February 11, all wards were urged to sanction Rs 200,000 each for controlling the monkey menace.
