NEWS - RAPID URBANISATION PUTS LIVES OF MONKEYS IN DANGER

Rapid urbanisation puts lives of monkeys in danger

 

Animal rights group rescues pregnant primate beaten by residents

• By S. Narendra, Correspondent
• Published: 00:00 February 12, 2012

Mumbai: Animal rights activists rescued a pregnant monkey which was badly bruised after being beaten up by local people in a town near Mumbai. The monkey is recovering in a veterinary hospital.
However, another female Rhesus monkey died from burn injuries. The Thane Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) tried to save it after it came into contact with a high-tension electric wire.
Both animals were victims of loss of habitat through rapid urbanisation, Thane SPCA president Shakuntala Majumdar said.
The Rhesus macaque that got electrocuted fell on a high-tension wire in the industrial area of Kolshet in Thane on February 4 and got badly burnt, Majumdar said.
"Having entered the urban area, the Rhesus monkey was swaying from height to height and got electrocuted ... She was thrown down more than 70 feet. She sustained more than 70 per cent burns on her body, before she was rushed our hospital on February 4," Majumdar told Gulf News yesterday.
"What moved us most is that even after having sustained critical internal injuries as well as burns, she was never aggressive for even one day when she was dressed or treated by our doctors, while she lived. She died on Tuesday, after being in our care for three days," she said.
The second female monkey was relatively lucky. "On Monday, we received information that a female monkey was beaten up by some dwellers of a slum located on Pokharan Road-II of Thane for having entered their area. When we rushed to the spot, she could hardly move. She is in an advanced stage of pregnancy. Without losing any time we brought her to our nearby hospital.
Vision lost in one eye
"She was so badly wounded that for the first few days she was not in a position to keep her head up or open her mouth. She had lost vision in one eye and the other was swollen and closed. She had to be hand-fed pureed fruits and water through a syringe," Majumdar said.
"Today our wildlife surgeon gave us a good progress report about this monkey. Though it will be many more days before we can even think of rehabilitating her, but chances are good. Maybe by then, she will have given birth," Majumdar said.