Check Monkey Menace

The successful stories of Nepal in wildlife conservation are hailed globally, inspiring many nations to take a leaf out of its book. Bengal tiger, one-horned rhino, gharial, among many other species, have remarkably grown in number over the past few decades, and so has the forest cover. Hidden beneath this, however, is a sobering reality: growing human-wildlife conflict. While casualties as a result of such conflicts around conservation areas make frequent headlines, another increasingly serious yet less talked about, let alone addressed, problem is the monkey wreaking havoc in fields and orchards across the nation, especially in hilly areas. 

According to a story carried by this daily the other day, farmers in Bajura are increasingly keeping themselves awake at night to protect their apple plantation from monkeys. Since the second week of July, monkeys have started entering orchards from nearby forests, feeding on apples and knocking down many others from trees. Apple cultivation has expanded in the district's Budhinanda Municipality and the rural municipalities of Himali, Swamikartik Khapar and Jagannath. Farmers turned to apple farming in recent years after seeing its strong income potential. 

Not just Bajura, on July 14, this daily carried a news report that around 200 ropanis of fertile agricultural land in Yamkha of Khotang have been abandoned and gradually transformed into grazing land and forest due to outmigration triggered by the increasing menace of monkeys. What's more, the same threat bedevils rural communities in districts from Taplejung, Phidim and Terahthum in the east to Arghakhachi, Palpa and Salyan in the west and beyond. As a result, many farmers complain that they are forced to spend the better part of their time fending off monkeys rather than farming productively. 

It's not that farmers haven't taken measures to tackle the problem. They have repeatedly tried deterrents like guarding fields, making loud noises, and placing scarecrows in the middle of the field or orchard, among others, with only limited success. In some districts, the problem has become so serious that it has become one of the major election issues, with the electorate declaring to vote for the candidate who would be able to drive away all the monkeys and restore their peace of mind. The problem has worsened because of rural depopulation, which has left fewer people to guard fields and emboldened packs of monkeys to raid the crops. Besides monkeys, many farmers have to endure attacks by elephants, leopards, porcupines and other animals. The issue has now become one of the nation's most pressing wildlife-management challenges, with some lawmakers vehemently raising the issue in parliament and discussing it at length. 

To tackle the problem, experts suggest switching to crops that monkeys are less attracted to, using crop-guarding systems and community patrols, and applying a scientific wildlife management system, among others. At the same time, they agree that this is only a short-term solution. The long-term solution, they say, necessitates coordinated action, sustained collaboration between local government, forest authorities, and farming communities, as well as monkey-resistant farming practices.

Monkey menace has imperilled agricultural productivity, rural economy and the viability of farming in rural communities, leading to reduced food production and incomes, increased abandonment of farmland, higher labour costs for guarding crops, and intensifying human-wildlife conflict. The problem has become too serious to ignore. The government needs to spring into action to address this once and for all.