Photos by NikhilrajPathanamthitta: A heart-wrenching incident occurred on a tree in front of the mini civil station here involving a few monkeys and migratory birds. The tree which is the refuge for several migratory birds is one of the main attractions of the town.
The monkeys climbed the tree, took an egg and shattered it by throwing on the ground. The chicks were also not spared. All those who witnessed the scene were crestfallen.
The nest of the migratory bird was on one of the topmost branches of the tree. The monkeys somehow located the nest and tried to pull it down by shaking the branch. Seeing this, the mother bird attacked the monkeys, furiously pecking at them. The monkeys were in no mood to relent. Staff at the mini civil station tried to frighten the monkeys, which ran away and hid somewhere. Sometime later, when the staff had gone to their offices, the monkeys returned. As several vehicles were parked under the tree, the efforts to scare the monkeys away did not succeed.
Photo by NikhilrajThe monkeys continued their attempt to reach the nest and the bird to resist them. When the monkeys shook the branch vigorously, an egg fell on the ground and broke. Two chicks in the nest were killed by the monkeys.
Photo by NikhilrajBeing informed about the incident, members of the Konni striking force of the forest department M Noushad, M Rajkumar, K Babu and R Anilkumar arrived on the scene and tried to frighten the monkeys. The monkeys would then run away, but soon returned.
When their attempt failed, the squad tried another method. They brought equipment used to frighten wild elephants which sounded like a gun. When they fired the equipment, the migratory birds flew away.
Photo by NikhilrajThe forest officials said that a trap will be set up to catch the monkeys. It will be kept near an unoccupied house close to the mini civil station where the monkeys were seen during the last two days. As bait, either pineapple or banana will be kept. However, according to forest officials, trapping monkeys using cages is not very effective as the animals often avoid them.
