‘Super monkey’ security guards
Delhi authorities are to deploy a contingent of langurs — a large type of monkey — at Commonwealth Games venues to help chase away smaller simians from the sporting extravaganza.
From Wednesday, 10 langurs will be put on duty outside Games venues in the Indian capital, with the boxing and hockey stadiums seen as particularly vulnerable to monkey misbehaviour, an official said.
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has a regular team of 28 langurs which are used to scare away their weaker brethren in VIP areas of the city, but 10 more have been brought in from the neighbouring state of Rajasthan.
Four of them will be posted outside the boxing complex with their handlers, while another four will patrol the hockey complex. Two have been kept in reserve to respond in the event of an emergency.
“They are there for the monkey problem. They will be moving outside the stadiums,” Devender Prasad, an inspector from the enforcement department of the NDMC, told AFP.
Wildlife has so far posed major headaches for the under-fire organisers, with stray dogs found in venues and a snake captured at the tennis complex.
After one of the strongest monsoon seasons in years, the capital is also struggling with a major dengue fever outbreak, caused by mosquitoes that breed in standing water.
Fish that eat mosquito larvae have been put in the pond in the Games Village to protect athletes from dengue, a viral infection transmitted to humans by the female Aedes mosquito.
Monkeys are a common sight in the verdant Indian capital, where they routinely scamper through government offices, courts and even police stations and hospitals.
In 2007, the deputy mayor of New Delhi fell to his death after being attacked by a group as he read a newspaper on the terrace of his home.
Hundreds of monkey bites are reported annually in the city, partly as a result of devout Hindus feeding the animals during ritual offerings to the monkey god Hanuman.
Langurs are an aggressive type of monkey with long tails and dark faces. They are controlled on leashes by specialised handlers, who release them once other monkeys come into sight.
The showpiece multi-sport Games, which open on Sunday, teetered on the brink of collapse last Tuesday when some nations threatened to pull out amid worries about security, a bridge falling down and the state of the facilities.
Problems plaguing the event range from shabby accommodation to security fears, as well as doubts about the quality and safety of venues and infrastructure.
Many athletes said Tuesday that conditions inside the much-criticised village were improving.
Indian organisers had forecast that the Games would be like the 2001 film “Monsoon Wedding,” in which everything comes together at the last minute.
A langur, one of several larger and fiercer kind of trained monkeys to be deployed outside Commonwealth Games venues to keep wild monkeys away, is seen outside the National Stadium in New Delhi, India, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010. Langurs are a common type on monkey in south Asia, and because they are large and fierce they are often used in India to keep other monkeys in check in public places.
Trained langur monkeys which will be deployed outside Commonwealth Games venues to keep wild monkeys away are transported in a truck in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010
Trained langur monkeys to be deployed outside Commonwealth Games venues to keep wild monkeys away are seen outside the national stadium in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010
Trained langur monkeys which will be deployed outside Commonwealth Games venues to keep wild monkeys away are transported in a truck in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010
Trained langur monkeys which will be deployed outside Commonwealth Games venues to keep wild monkeys away are transported in a truck in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010
Madanlal, right, and his pet langur Ramanlal, one of the several langurs to be deployed outside Commonwealth Games venues to keep off monkeys wait outside the Delhi civic authority office in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010
Trained langur monkeys which will be deployed outside Commonwealth Games venues to keep wild monkeys away are transported in a truck in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010
A langur, one of several larger and fiercer kind of trained monkeys to be deployed outside Commonwealth Games venues to keep wild monkeys away, is seen outside the National Stadium in New Delhi, India, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010. Langurs are a common type on monkey in south Asia, and because they are large and fierce they are often used in India to keep other monkeys in check in public places.
People walk past a trained langur monkey which will be deployed outside Commonwealth Games venues to keep wild monkeys away in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010
A man walks with a langur, one of several larger and fiercer kind of monkeys to be deployed outside Commonwealth Games venues to keep off monkeys, outside the National Stadium in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010
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Thank you Pastor Seng Piow for sharing this article. This is really my first time to come across that monkeys are used in public places to scare away other wild monkeys. These monkeys are called Langur and they are like the special forces troupe in the army.
With folded palms,
Vivian
Gosh it’s quite amusing to me that monkeys were used as security guard in India during the commonwealth games. They received quite bad press in the BBC during the commonwealth, like how the lavatories were in appalling conditions so were the hotels and something about the stadium not been completed on time for the games! No offence to India but the facilities weren’t up to the standards of developed nations I guess! I am not sure using the poor animals would be happy news for PETA though. But they seem to be there to ward off unnecessary nosiness by other animals so they must have served well. lol. Bless them.
I don’t think that it is a good idea to chain the monkeys. They are not meant to be chained, they are wild animals and they deserve to be freed. And also the ‘training’ the monkeys have been through, I am sure that it’s not a good very experience. I think that it’s very cruel, especially the part where they chain the monkeys and bring them to a ‘walk’. They are not dogs, they belong to the trees. I certainly do not agree with this.
Thank You for sharing Rinpoche.
Love, beatrix.
I don’t know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Because in a way it shows how cool and talented a monkey can be, and in another way, it shows that by them being a part of the security they are being chained up and kept like slaved.
Overall, i think that this is a bad thing. This is because, they may me talented and helpful, but at the end they always end up in chains and in suffering. Which is not a good thing. So therefore, i do not agree with this idea.
They are so smart and cute! Langur monkeys keeping other monkeys and stray dogs out of the stadium! I watched a documentary about monkeys that are causing a lot of nuisance to the people living in that area. How those monkeys go into their house and thrash everything looking for food. I think that the Indian government should take care of the problem instead of letting them roam like that. Probably a place for them be together.
From this blog released under the kind courtesy of our Guru, Tsem Rinpoche, animals can be rightfully said to be like Human beings. They can be trained to serve as security guards to guard properties, as in this case, where trained “Langur”monkeys were deployed to guard Commonwealth games stadiums to keep other wild monkeys away. Some were utilised at the New Dehli civic authority office too for the same purpose. Most of these animals were large in size and fiercesome, and were commonly used to keep other wild monkeys in check in other public places, where groups of these wild ones scamper through govt.offices, courts and even police stations and hospitals. Therefore, with caring, affection, attention and kindnesses, animals can be trained to do useful services to benefit sentient beings too in a Human society, so why eat them. GO VEGETERIAN FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL BEINGS!
I would like to use your picture of the monkey outside the commonwealth games for my work. You will get credit for it and the copyright will be to you. is that okay?
I am not surprised that India trained monkeys as security guards. This type of Security guard monkeys are called langur monkeys. They are very fierce species. There are lots of monkeys in India. The monkeys in general are a real nuisance to people and can also be harmful. They can attack and bite you. It was a very good idea that India trained up the fierce Langur monkeys as security guards to keep away all other monkeys during their Commonwealth Games. It will be so much cheaper to train monkeys than training dogs. Normally dogs are trained for security purposes. But in India, monkeys are trained to keep other monkeys away during the Commonwealth Games.