Chennai: Neethi R. was on her way to Katpadi from Chennai Central by the Lal Bagh Express when a young beggar girl approached her cubicle with a baby monkey on her shoulder. A man sitting opposite Neethi asked the girl why she was carrying a monkey around. The girl shoved the monkey in the man’s face to scare him and fled.
Though keeping a monkey as a pet is considered illegal, there are many who use monkeys for begging and performances, thereby violating various laws.
There have been many cases in the recent past wherein monkeys were rescued from Narikuravars and others who had trained the animals to beg at stations, in trains and at the beaches.
Though many societies and groups exist that work towards animal welfare, people continue to parade the streets boldly with their ‘monkey pets’.
There have been many cases of monkey rescues in the past one year including one rescue by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty at Kottivakkam on Wednesday. “We rescued a mature monkey and fined the culprit,” said the honorary secretary of the society, Thyagarajan.
“The monkey is a wild animal and the Forest Department is responsible to ensure the safety of all wild animals,” said Jerold, animal welfare officer of Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI).
“No one has the permission to keep monkeys as pets in any capacity. Officials of the Forest or Wildlife Departments should ensure that they crackdown the culprits and get them arrested as it is a punishable offence,” said the assistant secretary, AWBI, Vinod Kumaar.
“The law gives the authority only to the Forest and Wildlife Departments to take action. The culprits must be punished irrespective of whether they are Narikuravars or not,” he added.
“People who get hold of baby monkeys manage to do so by killing the mothers, by either poisoning them or hitting them with a rod. Poaching is a crime and the culprits should be arrested,” said Arun Prasanna, founder and secretary, People for Cattle in India. “Cases of Narikuravars walking around the stations have reduced over the years,” said RPF inspector S. Mohan.
A senior police officer at Marina too said he was not aware of any cases in the past one year.
“There have been many instances wherein we rescued monkeys and fined the beggars keeping them”, said a a forest range officer.
