31 AUGUST 2002: IT’S
ALRIGHT, THE MONKEYS ARE IN CHARGE NOW.

From an old
BBC news report:

Monkeys invade Delhi government

Tuesday, 9 January, 2001,
14:38 GMT

Thousands of monkeys are
invading government buildings in Delhi, forcing employees to arm themselves
with sticks and stones in case they are attacked.

    At least
10,000 monkeys are creating havoc in the Indian capital by barging into
government offices, stealing food, threatening bureaucrats and even ripping
apart valuable documents.

    The increasingly
aggressive animals swing effortlessly between the offices of the defence,
finance and external affairs ministries and some have even been spotted
in the prime minister’s office.

    “They
are moving in very high security areas,” says Defence Ministry officer,
IK Jha.

    Officials
say there is little that can be done.

    Killing
the animals is not an option because monkeys are a sacred symbol in Hinduism,
India’s main religion.

    The authorities
used to capture the monkeys and ship them to neighbouring states, but this
is no longer possible because other areas are now being over populated
with monkeys.

    The government
held a high-level meeting two years ago to solve the problem permanently.

    Suggestions
ranged from setting up a separate park for captured monkeys to “monkey
contraception.”

    Nothing
has been done since then and employees still walk to work in fear of attack.

    
“I am sometimes faced with groups of monkeys, big huge looking fellows,”
says government employee Surekha Rao. “What I do is make some noise with
my shoes so the monkey moves away.”

    Animal
rights activists say the main problem is not the rising number of monkeys
but the growing population of humans.

    “We have
encroached on their homelands, we have taken away their fruits, we have
reduced their water sources and we are trapping them from their home range,
from their forests, so they are coming to urban areas,” says rights activist
Iqbal Malik.