BENGALURU: The man-animal conflict reached a new level in the Karnataka Assembly on Thursday, with the government planning to control the monkey menace through large-scale sterilisation. If not, a BJP MLA wanted the right to shoot down the offending species for destroying crops, and well, for just being monkeys. BJP MLA from Theerthahalli Araga Jnanendra pointed to the menace of monkeys and other animals across the Malnad region. “Animals come out of the forest and destroy farmers’ crops within a few minutes. Why cannot the forest department keep animals in their vicinity? Compensation is not paid for wild animals destroying crops or killing and injuring humans.
Let the government pay scientific compensation or allow us to shoot these animals,’’ he thundered, and demanded sterilisation of monkeys.Minister Jagadish Shettar, responding to legislators from Malnad on behalf of Forest Minister Aravind Limbavali, said the government was adopting the Himachal Pradesh model of sterilisation, which had been successfully implemented in that state. Shettar said it was a tried-and-tested model, involving sterilisation of male monkeys.
Veterinary doctors have been trained to implement the sterilisation programme, he said. It includes procuring cages to trap monkeys, taking them to veterinary colleges for the sterilisation procedure, keeping them under observation for two or three days, and then releasing them into the forest.
This apart, the government plans to develop a monkey park on the outskirts of Shivamogga city and a rehabilitation centre for monkeys in Sagar forest division in Shivamogga district, for which a sum of Rs 25 lakh had been allotted, he added.Other legislators raised issues of deer, pigs and other animals, and demanded an increase in compensation for destruction of crops, and injuries sustained in conflict situations.