Fresh from their victory in the recent panchayat elections, newly elected sarpanches across Telangana are wasting no time in fulfilling a key campaign promise: tackling the persistent and destructive monkey menace in their villages. Their primary strategy involves identifying and trapping the leader of the simian troops responsible for raiding homes, farms, and streets.
The Strategy: Catch the Leader, Control the Troop
Teams of professional monkey catchers, hired by the sarpanches, emphasize that the success of any operation hinges on capturing the alpha monkey. This leader is the one that signals and leads incursions into human settlements. The catchers operate on a simple principle: catch the leader, and the rest of the troop will follow into the traps. Miss the leader, and the raids continue unabated. In many villages, work began almost immediately after the election results were declared, as local leaders were keen to demonstrate swift action on their assurances to voters.
One catcher from Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, highlighted a success story from Jangaon district. "My team has caught 503 monkeys so far," he said. "The sarpanch candidate who hired us won the election as he could show through our work that the monkey menace in a Jangaon village could be handled well." The newly elected representatives will officially assume their roles on December 22, but many have already initiated these drives.
Scale of the Problem and Rising Demand
Despite these efforts, the scale of the challenge remains vast. For instance, Narmetta village in Jangaon district is estimated to still have a population of nearly 1,000 monkeys, and trapping operations are ongoing. The success in some areas has sparked demand from neighboring hamlets facing similar issues.
- In a village in Ramagundam, teams have trapped about 200 monkeys.
- Work is actively underway in Kandikatkur village in Sircilla district.
- Operations sometimes net the leader, and at other times, other members of the troop.
A 24-year-old catcher from Tirupati, who uses the Instagram handle ‘Monkey Catcher Official’, explained the humane process. "All monkeys are fed throughout their time in captivity, transported in cages, and released into the forest within 24 hours," he stated. The technique involves luring the leader into a cage with bait. When the rest of the troop, also enticed by bananas and peanuts, follow, they get trapped as well before being transported for release.
High Demand for Professional Catchers
The demand for these specialized services in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh currently far exceeds the supply. Another catcher, known as ‘Devastan4’ on Instagram, said his 25-member team is overwhelmed with requests. "I first ascertain if the monkeys are attacking humans or destroying crops. Only when I am convinced they are a menace do I take up the job," he explained, adding that his family has been in this trade for over five decades.
In Narasaipalle village in Siddipet district, a newly-elected woman sarpanch honored her poll promise by hiring a team right after taking charge. The cost is typically negotiated per monkey, often around Rs 500, with villagers sometimes asked to cover feeding costs before trapping. Official clearance from the gram panchayat, municipality, or forest department is mandatory before any operation begins.
The commitment is evident in long-term agreements too. In Raghavapuram village in Bhuvanagiri district, a sarpanch signed a year-long contract with catchers post-results. Similarly, newly-elected sarpanch Chiranjeevi in Vennampalli, Karimnagar district, adopted this approach. The high demand is clear; one team that received an advance of Rs 50,000 in Nizamabad's Jakranpalli village soon found its contact number being circulated in nearby villages battling the same simian problem.
