Black faced and Red faced Monkeys….

The langur is hired by the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) here as a ‘guard’ to keep common marauding monkeys at bay. Deputy Director of ESIC, Prabhat Sharma told HT, “The monkeys had made life miserable for the employees and those living on the campus. These monkeys had destroyed several important documents and other records with important financial details.”  

The marauders had also injured several employees. Sharma said that many times, he saw these monkeys ‘reading’ departmental files and then tearing them into shreds but he could not help save important data.

Sharma said the department tried contacting the Kanpur Zoo oficials and other departments concerned to check the monkey menace but all efforts proved futile. The zoo authorities installed a cage but only one monkey was caught in several months. 

According to informed sources, a zoo official advised the ESIC officials to contact Mohd Fareed, a monkey trainer. Mohd Fareed also provides his services to the Rashtrapati Bhawan and several other government departments in Kanpur, Delhi and Lucknow. 

Mangal Singh, the langur was deployed on the ESIC campus in October 2008 to chase monkeys away. Irfaan, the caretaker of the langur at ESIC said, “Red-faced monkeys fear black-faced langurs because they are mightier. Usually, after seeing the monkey with long tail and black face, the red-faced monkeys keep away.” 

Needless to state, the ESIC campus, full of greenery with hundreds of trees and plants, which once bustled with the roguish activities of red-face monkeys who stole clothes, food and other goods from houses and office, is quiet today.