Monkey menace persists as Telangana’s lone rehabilitation centre battles constraints

Telangana’s only Monkey Rehabilitation Centre in Nirmal is battling fund shortages and staff constraints even as it handles a rising caseload from multiple districts, prompting officials to seek more centres and stronger institutional support to tackle the monkey menace.

Adilabad: The monkey menace continues to haunt both urban and rural areas across Telangana. However, the State’s maiden and only Monkey Rehabilitation Centre (MRC), located in Nirmal district, is facing a slew of challenges, including fund constraints and heavy workload, even as Forest department officials are going the extra mile to mitigate the problem through systematic interventions.

The MRC, the first such facility to be established on the premises of an urban forest park at Chincholi village on the outskirts of Nirmal town, was set up in 2020 at an estimated cost of Rs.2.25 crore. It is the second centre of its kind in the country after the one in Himachal Pradesh and is operated by the Forest department. Staffed by a veterinary doctor, an assistant, four helpers and a data entry operator, the centre currently registers between 100 and 150 sterilisations every month.

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Forest officials said around Rs.15 lakh generated through the urban park is being earmarked annually for the centre. A veterinary doctor working at a veterinary hospital in Sarangapur mandal and an assistant from Jagtial district have been deputed to the facility to perform birth control surgeries on monkeys. Professional catchers from Nellore and other parts of Andhra Pradesh are being roped in to capture the animals from towns and villages.

“The centre is successfully conducting surgeries on monkeys and doing its bit to check the menace. However, it can completely eradicate the problem only if sufficient funds are allocated to meet the expenses involved in sterilisations, pre and post operative care, food, transportation from towns and the release of monkeys into the wild,” an official said.

Officials also opined that the centre is in dire need of a dedicated veterinary doctor and supporting staff. As it is the lone centre in Telangana, staff are experiencing severe workload, with monkeys captured from different parts of Nirmal district and neighbouring Jagtial, Adilabad, Nizamabad, Mancherial and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts being rushed to the facility for rehabilitation.

They further maintained that similar rescue and rehabilitation centres could be set up at every district headquarters to ease pressure on the Nirmal facility, under the aegis of the veterinary department and local civic bodies, following the deletion of monkeys from Schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act in 2022. Services of self help groups, voluntary organisations and youth bodies could also be utilised to control the menace across the State.