SURKHET, Aug 12: For Mim Kumari Rana of Simta Rural Municipality-9, the arrival of the Raute community two months ago brought an unexpected relief: for the first time in years, she could tend to her maize field without spending the entire day chasing away monkeys.
Since the Raute settled near her village, not a single monkey has entered her field. “If they stayed for one more month, I would be able to tend to the crops satisfactorily,” Rana said. “If they hadn’t come, the monkeys would have eaten and destroyed the crop by now.”
Her experience is shared by many farmers along the route followed by Nepal’s only nomadic community. Wherever the Raute settle, residents say, the monkey menace seems to recede. “Usually, you have to stand guard from morning to night to protect the field. Even then, the monkeys eat the crops,” Rana said. “The arrival of the Raute has been a relief.”
The relief, however, is closely tied to an unusual relationship between the nomadic community and the animals that have become a growing nuisance for farmers.
Within a month of staying in Duni, the Raute had hunted 106 monkeys.
The community’s presence has become so sought after that villages including Duni, Khahare, Khanikhola and Gitara are now competing to persuade the Raute to stay in their areas. “Many people are trying to encourage the community to stay by offering food, vegetables and groceries,” said Lal Bahadur Khatri, a community facilitator from SOSEC Nepal who works with the Raute. “This is making it difficult for the Raute to decide where to go.”
On Thursday night, Raute community member Phalanto Shahi died. Under their tradition, the community does not move immediately after a death. It remains in the area until the mourning period is completed and is expected to move again at the end of the month.
For local residents, that means a few more weeks of respite from monkeys.
A community that monkeys fear
In Duni, Devendra Khatri said the arrival of the Raute had dramatically changed the situation for farmers. “Monkeys flee as soon as they see the Raute,” he said. “But when they see us, they chase us instead.”
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The monkey problem has become so severe that almost every household keeps a dog to help protect crops. “If we go to chase away the monkeys alone, they attack us,” Khatri said. “Having a dog makes it easier to scare them away.”
The problem is particularly acute during the maize and potato growing seasons. “Our main crops are maize and potatoes, and we have to stay on duty from morning to night when they are growing, or the monkeys will damage and uproot them,” he said. “Many people have stopped farming because of the problems caused by monkeys.”
The issue has also reached the Federal Parliament, where lawmakers have raised concerns about monkeys damaging crops and, in some places, effectively forcing people out of their settlements.
But along the Raute corridor, local residents have observed a different phenomenon: wherever the Raute go, monkeys seem to disappear.
The Raute’s traditional hunt
The Raute traditionally follow three principles: they do not farm, they do not remain in one place and they do not read or write.
They travel through parts of Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces, moving from one forested area to another and hunting monkeys, which have traditionally formed a major part of their diet.
The community moves through Surkhet, Salyan, Jajarkot, Dailekh and Kalikot in Karnali Province and Achham in Sudurpaschim Province.
According to Khatri, the Raute have hunted 737 monkeys over the past 15 months. “The Raute community hunts monkeys wherever they go,” he said.
The hunt itself follows a traditional process. Before setting out, members seek permission from their community leader and consult a sage to identify auspicious dates. They then enter the forest in groups, using nets to trap monkeys and spears to kill them.
The monkeys, residents say, appear to have learned to associate the arrival of the Raute with danger.
A shrinking source of food
Raute leader Prakash Shahi said monkey meat remains an important part of the community’s diet. But he acknowledged that the supply of monkeys has declined along the route the community traditionally follows. “Our main food used to be monkeys, and there were plenty of them in the jungle,” he said. “When their population began to decline, we started eating chicken and mutton.”
The decline has become significant enough to influence where the Raute choose to settle. Before moving to a new location, they assess whether the area has sufficient water and enough monkeys to support them. “We mostly stay in areas where there is plenty of water and monkeys,” said another community leader, Bir Bahadur Shahi. “Children also really like monkey meat.”
The community has increasingly turned to chicken and mutton, purchased with the social security allowances it has recently begun receiving from the government. Before receiving the allowances, members often exchanged wooden handicrafts for goats.
The shift in diet reflects a broader change in a community whose traditional way of life is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.
Tracking the Raute’s movements
SOSEC facilitators have been travelling with the Raute and keeping records of their movements and the number of monkeys they have hunted.
Over the past 15 months, the community has stayed at 15 locations.
From mid-April to mid-May 2025, the Raute stayed at Girighat in Birendranagar-2, Surkhet. They then moved to Karekhola and later to Jhuprakhola in Lekbeshi Municipality-10 via Chandrapur.
From there, they travelled along Ranimate Khola and Ratechaur before celebrating Dashain in Chaurase.
After Dashain, they moved to Chisapani via Pultar and Lamana and later stayed in Jahare in Gurbhakot Municipality-14. They then travelled to Khaharekhola in Lekbeshi-2, moved from Gothikhola to Mugre in Simta Rural Municipality and eventually reached Duni, where they are currently staying.
Their movements offer a glimpse into a way of life that is increasingly rare in Nepal—and also into an emerging ecological paradox.
The Raute depend on monkeys for part of their traditional diet, while farmers depend on the Raute to keep monkeys away from their crops.
But the very practice that has brought relief to farmers may also be contributing to the decline of the monkey population along the Raute corridor.
The Raute currently comprise 40 households and 132 people. As their traditional way of life changes, so too does the landscape through which they move—and the relationship between the community, the forests and the monkeys that have long been part of their lives.
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