(Registered with the Election Commission of India under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Registration Number: 56/476/2018-19/PPS-I, effective from 18/07/2019.)
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Email: indiagreensparty@gmail.com Website: www.indiagreensparty.org
10 June 2020
Press Statement
IGP appeals to Himachal Govt to make monkey killing illegal
New Delhi, 10 June 2020: The India Greens Party (IGP) has appealed to the Himachal Pradesh Government to take the order declaring Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) species of monkeys as vermin back and make it illegal to kill the Rhesus macaque monkeys.
The IGP President, Suresh Nautiyal, in a press statement issued here said that killing the monkeys was no solution of the monkey menace at all. He asked the state government to come up with better ways to deal with the issue.
He said that rapid urbanisation and deforestation have forced the monkeys to find their shelter and food in the human habitations including cities.
“Therefore, we are responsible for their displacement and we must not kill them,” Mr Nautiyal pointed out.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) vide its notification dated 14 February 2019 and 11 July 2019 in exercise of powers conferred by section 62 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 had declared Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) species of monkeys to be vermin for a period of one year in 92 tehsils/sub-tehsils of Himachal Pradesh including Shimla municipality. Subsequently, the Himachal Pradesh Government made it legal to kill monkeys in these tehsils of the state.
Before 2019, it was only legal in 39 tehsils of the state and without any culling (slaughter) protocol.
Mr Nautiyal said it is regrettable that the Himachal Pradesh Government has renewed the 2019 order for one more year.
“This means anyone can kill a monkey without any consequences and the government will even help them to dispose of the carcass,” the IGP leader wondered.
The IGP President said it is understandable that the monkeys destroy crops and sometimes physically harm people but killing them is not a solution.
“There are better ways to deal with this problem such as sterilisation of them. An appropriate relocation policy and proper disposal of garbage in the cities are other ways to minimise the menace,” he added.
He expressed the concern that many aggrieved farmers feed the monkeys with poisoned food which can result in other grave issues such as the risk of spreading of genetic and infectious diseases or zoonotic disease contamination of drinking water.
Mr Nautiyal pointed out that killing monkeys with poison was not authorised by the government, but many farmers do that. It goes unaccounted and there’s no official record since it’s hard to track the person who did that and monkeys don’t die immediately after being poisoned.
Moreover, the IGP President added that the humans must not behave like the predators. “The earth belongs to all species of flora-fauna that inhabit it. It does not belong to the humans only. Therefore, any solution has to be within the principles of co-existence,” he concluded.
-Press Statement issued by party Spokesperson Michael Rajchandra.
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