Thousands of monkeys attack the residents and terrorize an Indian tourist city
Thousands of monkeys are raising terror in the city of Shimla, the ancient summer capital of British colonial times in northern India, as it has finally attacked the population, causing them severe wounds.
During the period of strict quarantine imposed from March to June to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, most monkeys abandoned this famous mountain town at the foothills of the Himalayas, and headed towards the surrounding countryside in search of food.
However, these animals were not late to return as soon as the restrictions began to be eased, and about 50 groups of hungry monkeys returned their attacks on the population, stealing food bags from them at one point, or biting passersby at another time.
And if this city, which is characterized by its elegant Victorian buildings and a population of about 160,000, attracts tourists, especially those wishing to escape the summer heat, then the capital of Himachal Pradesh also attracts monkeys, who come to enjoy the leftovers of hamburgers or pizzas thrown by tourists.
Nand Lal, 46, points to the wounds he sustained as a result of being attacked by monkeys in the street.
"I was passing by a group of monkeys, so what was the dominant male suddenly attacked me, and then three monkeys joined him," he recounts.
"Fortunately, I grabbed a stick and managed to push the monkeys away. I have bruises all over my head and face. I was bleeding from a bite on my back," Lal continues.
It required more than one dose to be administered against rabies.
“People are very scared and don't know what to do,” notes Kuldeep Chand Sood, a former Supreme Court judge who has reached the age of retirement, referring to the wound left by a monkey bite in the leg while it was on the balcony of his home.
"I was just reading when a big monkey suddenly attacked me," he told AFP.
In the Sanguli neighborhood where the judge lives, many homes protect their balconies and windows with metal cages, as monkeys do not hesitate to storm them to empty the refrigerators of food, unless they are fortified.
Shimla Rajesh Sharma, an environmental officer, explains that surplus garbage bins outside hotels and restaurants are also a magnet for hungry monkeys.
He believes that improving the waste collection system "makes it difficult for the monkeys, but it does not lead to changing the habits that are used to them, as they extract everything they see." And if they do not find anything, they resort to biting.
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