Cricket board associations are responsible for ensuring that matches, especially international matches, run smoothly without obstructions. Kanpur’s GreenPark Stadium is currently hosting the second test match between India and Bangladesh. Kanpur is infamous for its huge population of monkeys that, true to their nature, love to spread nuisance. Anticipating this, the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) has hired langurs and their handlers to guard people against monkeys.
The stadium is situated near the Ganges River and is surrounded by natural flora and fauna. When the stadium is not packed with cricket fanatics, animals make this place their home. According to reports, about 250-300 monkeys live there. Even when matches do happen, these fearless monkeys snatch food and other items like mobile phones from spectators. While security guards were employed to scare away monkeys, the authorities at the stadium thought it necessary to employ langurs.
The Venue Director, Sanjay Kapoor, told the Indian Express, “To avoid the terror of monkeys, we have langurs (long-tailed leaf monkeys) to take care of them.” He further informed that, along with the spectators, the camera persons in the stands face equal terror from the monkeys. The broadcasting team covers their equipment with black cloth to protect it from monkeys.
According to reports, the monkey men carry whistles with them. The monkeys are scared of the sound and scurry off from the site. It is also believed that the presence of langurs scares off monkeys.
The stadium belongs to the sports directorate of the Uttar Pradesh government, and it has been leased by UPCA for the match. Ahead of the match, the state association held a meeting of all the departments. It was here that the need for monkey scarers was raised. The UPCA official said that the forest department sends trained langurs along with handlers and monkey men. During their invigilation of the site, the stadium authorities also found that some seats in C block were unsafe for use by spectators.
This is not the first time government authorities have employed monkey men. During last year’s G20 summit, which was held in Delhi, the government hired these skilled men to keep the monkeys at bay.
Do langurs really scare away monkeys?
The Indian Gray Langur has a distinct long tail with a black face and ears and can be found in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. However, the assumption that monkeys are scared away by langurs is not entirely true, according to several reports. Both have been known to coexist peacefully in their natural habitats.
When langurs are brought in to train, they are pulled away from their family and habitat. They are not well-fed and are treated poorly. At places where they are hired, they are often chained. This is an abuse of animals, and authorities have addressed this issue. In 2012, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), placed a ban on using langurs. Furthermore, according to The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, the species of langur is protected under Schedule II, and under IPC Sections 2, 8, 9, 11, 40, 41, 43, 48, 51, 61, and 62. These sections assert that it is illegal to sell, buy, hire, trade, or own langurs. It also specifies that breaking these laws will result in a 3-year jail term, a fine, or both.