City authorities in Delhi are taking unusual measures to protect delegates at the G20 summit next month from the Indian capital’s burgeoning monkey population.
Life-size cut-outs of grey langur monkeys, which scare smaller monkeys, have been put up at various places, and there are plans to deploy people trained to mimic the animal’s sounds, the BBC reports.
Langurs are an aggressive type of monkey with long tails and dark faces. In the past, they were typically controlled on leads by specially trained handlers, who released them to scare away other monkeys.
This was stopped after animal rights activists objected, saying that holding monkeys captive amounted to cruelty.
Senior official Satish Upadhyay said that between 30 and 40 people trained to mimic the sounds made by langurs would be deployed at hotels where delegates would be staying, as well as in places where monkey sightings are reported.
[Image: Manoj Nair, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27605414]