Monkeys trapped into a cage in Trimbakeshwar temple town
Nashik : The forest department has intensified a monkey-trapping drive in Trimbakeshwar ahead of President Droupadi Murmu ’s visit for the Simhastha Kumbh Mela flag-hoisting ceremony on Oct 31, following a sharp rise in monkey-bite cases in the temple town. Around 35 monkeys have been trapped over the past few days and shifted to a forest facility about 10km away. 150 cases were reported in 2021-22 and 141 in 2022-23 before the figure jumped sharply to 367 in 2023-24, according to hospital records. “We have trapped 35 monkeys over the past few days.
Officials said the animals would be released into their natural habitat after President’s visit as per procedure.
Speaking to TOI, Shekhar Deokar, the range forest officer of the Trimbakeshwar forest range, said the drive was stepped up to prevent any untoward incident during President’s visit. The exercise is aimed at preventing any monkey menace during the event,” Deokar said. He said the municipal council had sought intervention following the rise in monkey-bite incidents. The figures highlighted the increase in such cases in the area,” Deokar said. The drive will continue ahead of the President’s visit, and we will try to trap as many as possible to minimise the possibility of any monkey-related incident,” a forest official said.
“We have started trapping monkeys in Trimbakeshwar ahead of President Droupadi Murmu’s visit for the flag-hoisting ceremony of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela. “We also sought data on monkey-bite cases from the sub-district rural hospital.