Excerpted from Fuzz: How Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach. Available September 14, 2021 from W.W. Norton.
The Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, is a cluster of concrete buildings that has been thrown down and connected by outdoor walkways. These corridors are open to the elements, so rhesus monkeys can sometimes be seen walking alongside or behind humans. As if each species is not paying attention to the other, it's as if they too have meetings to attend and photocopies that to make. This peaceful coexistence contrasts with the human-monkey relationship elsewhere in India.
Simians Lay Siege on Agra, is the headline in the Times of India that I read the week after my arrival. It's a full-feature special section with multiple features. The letter O is a fang-flashing monkeyhead and the signature two-color monkey threat graphic. In the lead story, a baby was killed by a rhesus monkey after it took him from his mother's breast. A Times article earlier this month stated that a group of monkeys killed a 72-year old man.
Monkeys have caused a small epidemic in the past decade that has seen people fall from balconies. Six deaths were reported in news reports within the past three years. The most famous was the 2007 death of S.S. Bajwa, Delhi deputy mayor. Bajwa was taking to the air when he was awoken by a group macaques who wanted to storm the house in search of food. He tried to stop them from fleeing, but they were not able to see him.
Time for feeding at the Galtaji Temple Complex in Jaipur. Dave Stamboulis/Alamy
Although I doubt the malicious intent of the word attack, the monkey home invasion is certainly a frightening experience. On a recent trip to Udaipur I used to sit on top of one of the many rooftop restaurants to watch langurs or macaques emerge from the darkness to start their evening predations. They ran up fire escapes, leaping from one building to the next like Tom Cruise. As I was making my way through a dull dal, one night, I glanced up to see a langur vault on a beam above my table. The meal would have been more memorable if the waiters had not kept a stick nearby to scare off monkeys. You don't think about what happens when a 40-pound monkey suddenly drops in. You could also be falling from the roof or balcony if you are not paying attention.
According to many of these articles, the Wildlife Institute of India is currently working on a contraceptive vaccination. According to The Times of India, a shot could be administered within minutes to sterilize an animal. This is a quick and effective way to control the overpopulation of problematic wildlife. Qamar Qureshi (the institute's director of research), was unavailable to confirm a date via email before I left for India. He had been on Diwali holidays and could not be reached for confirmation. Dipanjan Naha (a researcher at the institute that I had met earlier) agreed to accompany me on the grounds so that I could confront the man face-to-face.
You can't think when a monkey weighing 40 pounds suddenly drops in.
It's Monday morning at ten past nine Naha is waiting at the front gate. I am escorted by the guard to my office chair in the sun by the guard. The guard is wearing a uniform with a fringed hip shash and a red plumed beret. It looks like he is protecting wildlife biologists, not royalty. A small, enclosed grounds building is located just beyond the gate. It is surrounded by concertina wire and has chain-link fencing. The barbed loops are casually walked by a macaque.
Naha crosses the lawn of the institute to rescue me. He explains to me that Qureshi is at Monday morning meetings as we walk towards the main building. He leads me to Qureshi's office, and promises to let Qureshi know that I am waiting.
Qureshis desk accessories include a wildlife-themeda Zebra-stripe pencil cups and a Tiger-stripe water bottles. A sliding glass door leads to a terrace which, yes, macaques used twice as an access point. They ransacked desktops with a pandemonium office supplies and airborne papers, and then found nothing edible and fled the scene. I was able to relate the incidents in pantomime to a man sitting at a desk behind Qureshis office. I don't understand his English and he speaks no English. He is wearing a short-sleeved, striped dress shirt and a vest. Here, it's all stripes.
A macaque crosses power lines during rush hour in Jaipur. Paul Kennedy/Alamy
Qureshi's desk is greeted by a secretary who places two file folders open. Post-it notes are used to flag forms. He will sign anywhere else, she laughs. Is Sir aware that you are here?
Yes. He is in a meeting.
She makes a sour, ominous sound. His meetings are not indefinite. I wish you success. The striped man behind her is falling asleep. The far side of the courtyard is occupied by a macaque that runs along the roof edge.
Qureshi, along with some of his researchers, arrives at 11:00. He is tall and lean, and has a friendly demeanor. Instead of asking How are you doing?, he asks How are your Indian friends? Hows your tummy?
Before we get into the science, let's talk about India and its animal predicaments. Qureshi says that almost the entire country is a sanctuary. Qureshi signs while he speaks, and works his way through the Postsits. He is aware that our laws can be quite strict. Qureshi looks over his glasses. People are in favor of this.
The Hanuman Garhi Hindu Temple, Nainital, Uttarakhand. A huge statue of Lord Hanuman. Roop Dey/Alamy
Hindu deities can often be seen as animals or part of other animals. Their spouses are also an animal or ride on an animal. My first trip to Delhi was marked by a visit from a live rat that fell from the sidewalk and landed on top of my foot. The man with whom I was walking exclaimed, "You are blessed!" The conveyance of Lord Ganesha is the rat.
Qureshis researchers are listening attentively. Everyone is a deity! Hoots Uddalak Bindhani, a fellow project member. Basil is a deity. It is one of Vishnus' wives.
It's a wonderful thing to think about, says Divya, a young behavioral ecologist who has a simple smile and pierced eyebrows. People have a great relationship with nature.
However, even Hindu tolerance is not without limits. Particularly if the farmer is concerned. The top Indian agricultural pests are also sacred animals. The deity Ganesh is represented by elephants and Hanuman by monkeys. Vishnu is represented by the wild boar. Although the nilgai (or blue bull) is an antelope, gai refers to a cow and cows are sacred. The state wanted to cull the animal so they changed its name. The nilgais, also known as forest antelopes, are now called roj.
In Hinduism, cows such as this one at the Sri Krishna-Balaram Temple, Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh are considered sacred. Aliaksandr Mazurkevich/Alamy
Despite media hype about the ever-present monkey menace, neither Delhi nor Agra have declared macaques vermin. They would be difficult-pressed to find exterminators if they did. Nilanjana Bhowmick (a Delhi-based journalist) says that you won't find anyone who will kill a monkey. It is difficult enough for the Delhi's Veterinary Services department to find people to capture macaques, even if they are just trying to relocate them. Non-Hindus can't do the job because monkey catchers are frequently threatened and harassed.
Offerings can help to solve the problem. On Tuesdays and Saturdays devotees go to Hanuman temples for a puja. They present coconuts and garlands made of marigolds to the icons; the living representations outside receive samosas or Frooti mango pop. As we all know, feeding wild animals is the fastest way to conflict. The promise of food encourages otherwise timid animals to take a chance. Risk-taking is rewarded and the behavior increases. Fearlessness is transformed into shyness, fearlessness into aggression. The monkey will grab the food you are carrying if you don't hand it over. Qureshi warns that if you hold on to the food or push it away, it might slap you. You might even get bit. According to The Times of India, 950 monkey bites were reported by Delhi hospitals in 2018.
Fearlessness turns into shyness, fearlessness into aggression.
Qureshi recalled visiting a Hanuman temple, Himachal Pradesh. He had been there for a wildlife meeting. He was warned by his hosts not to bring anything valuable as the macaques could take it as ransom. Qureshi forgot to lock his wallet and phone in his car's glove box. Qureshi stood up and pulled his pockets inwards. It's true! They will take your hand and search you thoroughly!
A macaque story is also mys. Mine is located near Bundi in Rajasthan. It follows a trail through the forest to the ruins a 14th century fort. Because their silhouettes can be seen along the parapets at night, I knew there were monkeys there. I went in the morning. I had bananas. It was my request. I wanted to see what it was like for monkeys to mug me. Steph, my friend, followed me to document the crime using a tightly held iPhone. First, I am looking down. The orange plastic produce bag hanging from my hand is distracting me. Look closer. The trail has been walked by a little tan head that appeared from behind a boulder. Another monkey is hidden from the camera's view. The stagecoach is waiting for outlaws. The first macaque appears as I approach the boulder. As we are standing there, sizing up each other, the second macaque leaps out from behind and grabs the bananas. It's so smooth! It was not an attack. It was more like a purse-snatch. Too fast to cause any fear.
Good fortune is assured by offering good wishes to the monkeys of the Galtaji temple complex. Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto/Getty Images
The Delhi city government passed legislation in 2008 that prohibited feeding wild monkeys. However, one news report claims that no fines were ever issued. A man approached a group macaques outside the Hanuman temple at Delhi's Connaught Place. He had a side-glancing furtiveness about him that made it seem like he was approaching sex workers rather than monkeys. He quickly gave him a bag of tomatoes, and then he watched as a petite female sat on top of her legs, removing the pulp from the pavement and then slimming it with her skins. The temple employee watched but did not do anything.
Qureshi insists that the employee is aware of the significance of the gesture. Do you want to go to Heaven? You feed them. Do you want to book a berth or a nice place there? You feed.
Ramesh adds, "These are the same people who are crying, Get rid these monkeys!"
Qureshi puts his pen down and closes the folder. When you interview people, many will say that they don't want to kill them. The park's squirrels are cute. Deplorable!
Qureshi adds that the other problem with government-controlled cullingreferring here to the shooting of wild boar and nilgaisis that while it is permissible to kill them, the law forbids eating the meat. India. You don't kill a species just for the sake. That is what a psychopath would do.
Macaques can be seen at the Press Club in New Delhi. They are often present as observers, and sometimes take part in outdoor meals. Biplov Bhuyan/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
It is hoped that science will find a way to control the birth rate of problem animals. Qureshis' team is working on an immunocontraceptive vaccination for macaques. However, it is not true that the vaccine would make the animal sterile in minutes, as reported by the Times of India. It would not be administered orally, as reported by other news outlets. Qureshi rests his elbows against the desk. Qureshi rests his elbows on the desk.
Oral contraceptives work best in a single-species controlled environment. As a sewer. ContraPest is an oral contraceptive that's used in the United States to control Norway rats. It contains two active ingredients. VCD (4-vinylcyclohexene dioxide), is the first ingredient that depletes eggs' ovaries. VCD was originally developed as an industrial plasticizer. However, when safety and health tests showed it to be an endocrine disruptor, VCD was repurposed as a rodent birth control. VCD is slow to work so a second compound was created, one for the boys. Triptolide has a long-lasting effect on sperm viability and egg viability. Although it is not clear if the combination of the two will reliably sterilize a group of rats, a few American cities have tried it. However, it would not be an option for monkeys that roam freely and have plenty of food options.
Interviews with many people reveal that they don't want to kill them. They simply want them to go.
PZP, an injectable immunocontraceptive vaccination called porcine zona pellucida, is being tested by the Wildlife Institute of India. The zona pellucida, a protein coating with sperm receptors that surrounds an egg, is a protein layer. The female will become immune to a vaccine of pig zona pellucida. These antibodies attach to the receptors and block sperm from getting into the egg. Fertilization stymied.
There are many logistical challenges. PZP, like many vaccines requires booster shots to keep your immune system alert. Free-range animals make this difficult. It is expensive and time-consuming enough to gather and inject animals from a single source. Administering boosters can be time-consuming and costly. You will also need a permanent markinga tattoo to allow booster-givers know who's had their first shot.
A synthesized zona-pellucida was developed in the United States and has been used primarily to treat populations of animals that are geographically restricted. Because they are wild horses on Assateague Island, it was easy to administer all injections simultaneously. They move in herds, and the island is small, making them a good candidate. Then, repeat the process for three to six more weeks. After that, a yearly booster should suffice. It makes no sense to even try for the thousands of wild rhesus monkeys who roam Indian cities.
A macaque at Galtaji's temple complex. Barry Lewis/In Pictures via Getty Images
This is the problem with zona pellucida vaccinations for monkeys. Males will exhibit breeding-season behavior if females don't become pregnant. This means they are more aggressive toward macaques and humans. In some U.S. trials, this was observed with white-tailed bucks. Although the bucks were not aggressive towards humans, they wandered more looking for sex and drove across highways and roads, which was dangerous for both drivers and deer. This is partly why immunocontraceptive research has been conducted in the United States to find a vaccine that blocks the effects sex hormones. GonaCon prevents females from going into sex. Seven years after an initial injection and one booster shot, 92% of North Dakota's mare-dense Theodore Roosevelt National Park mares remain infertile. The research is ongoing, and it is hoped that infertility can be permanently fixed.
Is there an immunocontraceptive vaccine which could give permanent sterility in a single shot? The National Wildlife Research Center, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, are currently testing it on a small subset of wild horses who have outgrown their rangelands. Two active components are present in the shot (BMP-15, and GDF-9). These components are blocked by antibodies, which prevent the eggs from communicating with surrounding cells and supporting them. This causes it to never mature. This vaccine would not require the marking of animals or tracking down boosters, so it could be used to treat urban macaques.
Qureshi sees a larger problem with immunocontraception or any other form of monkey contraception. People will expect the problem would disappear as soon as treatment begins. He says that you aren't killing the animal. They live 12 to 15 year lives. Qureshi estimates that it will take seven to eight years for the population to drop enough to be noticeable to an average macaque-aggrieved Indian. People will respond with, "You spent all the money and the problem still exists."
