Scores of langur monkeys overran a women’s college in Darjeeling, India, in early April, destroying thousands of books, stalling classes, and harassing students, according to the April 3 Calcutta Statesman. The monkeys tore to shreds about 6,000 books and broke furniture in the Loreto College library. They also clawed and slapped students, snatched their books and bags, and raided their lunch boxes for food.
This is the third consecutive year that monkeys have attacked the college in the spring. The langurs live at nearby Observatory Hill, where devotees flocking to the Mahakal Temple readily feed them. Environmentalists blame deforestation for the problem, and some experts think that perfumes and plastic bags used by the students provoke the primates.
After complaints in 2001, local wildlife officials captured about 30 monkeys and released them in a faraway jungle. But residents protested the action, claiming it was “encroaching on the temple’s precincts,” according to posters that appeared around town. “So, this year we don’t know what to do,” a forest official said.
Posted April 8, 2002.