The has decided not to seek the renewal of permission from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest for the culling of monkeys as only five simians have been killed since 2016, owing to religious beliefs.
It was after holding a detailed discussion with experts and wildlife officials last week that the Forest Department decided not to push the case for further renewal of the earlier notification, declaring monkeys as vermin in 93 tehsils across the state. The earlier notification, allowing scientific culling of monkeys across the state, including Shimla, had expired over two and a half years ago.
As per the official records, only five monkeys have been killed in the state since they were declared as vermin. So, we felt there was no justification in seeking the renewal of the order from the Centre, said Rajiv Kumar, Principal Chief Conservator Forest (Wildlife).
Moreover, decline in the number of monkeys from 1.36 lakh in the 2019 Census was also taken into consideration before arriving at the decision, he added.