Chennai: Even as the search for the elusive monkey continued at the international departure terminal of the Chennai airport for the second day on Thursday, the airport administration seems to have given up on the simian menace and has decided to “live with it”. Forest department’s help was also sought to track the monkey. As the team, along with security personnel from the airport, continued their efforts to track and cage the monkey, airport officials said instances of monkeys straying inside the terminals were inevitable considering the immediate vicinity of the airport, particularly St. Thomas Mount, having a large monkey population.
They said that the monkeys were attracted by availability of food near the terminals. “As soon as the monkey was sighted inside the international terminal on Wednesday, two of our staff, with some expertise in catching stray animals, were put on its tail. They were joined by the Wildlife department personnel,” said airport director Deepak Shastri.
The Twitter handle of the airport, @aaichnaiairport, mentioned that the monkey had vanished inside the terminal and that the services of the wildlife department would be sought. With the monkey not being sighted on Thursday, Mr Shastri noted that they had presumed that it had found its own way out. In order to prevent future instances of animals wandering into the airport, steps are being taken to ensure that all the gates/entry points are manned and monitored.
