Himachal Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri on Wednesday thanked the Central Government for declaring Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) to be vermin for a period of six months in the Shimla Municipal Corporation area limits excluding the forest areas on the request of State Government.
This will pave the way for scientific culling of monkeys in the State.
The State Government had moved the case last year before Union Ministry of Environment and Forest for declaring monkeys
vermin within Shimla MC limits.
He said that notification in this regard had been issued by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate
Change.
Bharmouri said that if considered necessary, the matter would be taken up with the Government of India after six months to extend the time limit further.
He said that monkeys were creating problems to general public particularly ladies and school going children. He added that this decision would go a long way in mitigating the damage to human life, crops and other properties of the state.
Notably, the latest monkey census undertaken in July 2015 had indicated that there are about 2,452 monkeys within the municipal limits, which is higher than their number registered in the last census undertaken in 2013
